What is Steven Yeun’s net worth and salary?
Steven Yeun is an American actor and producer of South Korean descent who has a net worth of $5 million. Steven Yeun rose to fame in “The Walking Dead” and later in “Miners.”
He discovered his love for theater and improv during his freshman year at Kalamazoo College. He joined his college’s improv troupe and after graduation convinced his parents to allow him to pursue a full-time performance career. After moving to Chicago, Illinois, he joined Second City Improv, then moved to Los Angeles. The move proved to be a smart one, and after booking a guest role on “The Big Bang Theory,” he landed the role that would put him on the map as Glenn on “The Walking Dead.”
Youth
Yeun was born on December 21, 1983 in Seoul, South Korea to parents Je and Jun Yeun. He grew up with his younger brother Brian in a Christian household, speaking mainly Korean. In 1988, the family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and then moved to Michigan in the United States. While his father had been an architect in South Korea, the family owned a beauty shop in Detroit after moving to the US.
Yeun attended Ruth M. Buck Elementary and then Troy High School, graduating in 2001. He then enrolled at Kalamazoo College where he studied psychology with a concentration in neuroscience, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2005. While attending Kalamazoo, Yeun befriended comedian Jordan Klepper’s sister who took him to see Klepper’s improv show. Through this experience, Yeun was inspired to take his first acting class. Eventually, he befriended Klepper and decided to follow him to Chicago to pursue a career in improvisation and acting. While his parents ultimately hoped that Yeun would enroll in law or medical school, they gave him two years to pursue or career in entertainment and supported him during this time.
Career
In 2005, Yeun moved to Chicago and joined “Stir Friday Night!”, an Asian-American sketch comedy troupe in Chicago. He joined Chicago’s The Second City, one of the country’s leading sketch comedy troupes. In October 2009, he decided to move to Los Angeles to further develop his acting career.
Soon after, Yeun landed what would be his breakthrough role as the character Glenn Rhee in the AMC horror television series, “The Walking Dead” in 2010. The series was based on the comic book series of the same name. It tells the story of a group of characters fighting to survive a violent zombie apocalypse. The series became the highest-rated in cable television history and was favorably received by viewers and critics alike. Yeun’s performance was also highly praised, especially considering the development of his character over the six seasons that Yeun remained on the show. He decided to leave in 2016 after the premiere of season seven.
During “The Walking Dead,” Yeun appeared in various episodes of other television series, including “Law & Order: LA,” “Warehouse 13,” “NTSF: SD: SUV,” and “Drunk History.”
Yeun was cast in Joe Lynch’s action horror film ‘Mayhem’ in March 2016. The film was released in November 2017. He was also cast in Bong Joon-ho’s action adventure film, ‘ Okja”, which was released in 2017. and competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, he provided the voice of Bo in “The Star”.
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In 2018, Yeun co-starred in Boots Riley’s dark comedy Sorry to Bother You, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film won the 2019 National Board of Review Top Ten Independent Films Award, as well as Best Screenplay and Best Feature Film at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards. Yeun also starred in the mystery film, “Burning,” which aa premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He has received multiple awards for Best Supporting Actor at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, and the National Society of Film Critics Awards.
In 2020, Yeun starred in and served as an executive producer for Lee Isaac Chung’s A24 immigrant drama Minari. The film tells the story of a family of Korean immigrants who become farmers in the United States. The film won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival, and Yeun was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2021, Yeun was honored when “Time” included him in their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, which specifically refers to his role in acting and producing “Minari”.
In 2021, Yeun appeared in writer-director Stephen Karam’s psychological drama The Humans. The film is based on Karam’s award-winning one-act play of the same name. It premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.
Outside of films, Yeun continued to work in television series and voice work. He provided voices for characters in the second season of ‘The Legend of Korra’, ‘Trollhunters’, ‘3Below’, ‘Voltron: Legendary Defender’, Final Space, ‘Tuca & Bertie’ and ‘Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters”. ,” among others. He also voices a character in the Amazon Prime animated superhero series Invincible, which is adapted from the comic book series by Robert Kirkman.
Personal life
In December 2016, Yeun married photographer Joana Park. They live together in Los Angeles and have two children together. In Los Angeles, he invested in his younger brother’s Korean-Mediterranean fusion restaurant in Koreatown, called The Bun Shop.
Yeun is a Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings fan. He also endorsed Andrew Yang for president in the 2020 US presidential election.
