Summary

Youn Yuh-jung discusses her nuanced character in The Wedding Banquet.

She reveals why she initially turned down the film — and who convinced her to change her mind.

Yuh-jung teases what we can expect from her character in Beef Season 2.

If you’re craving something as heartfelt as it is hilarious, look no further than The Wedding Banquet — specifically Youn Yuh-jung’s performance. The film sees her character Ja-Young’s grandson Min (Han Gi-chan) propose to his friend Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) so she can afford another round of IVF with her partner Lee (Lily Gladstone) and he can stay in America with his boyfriend Chris (Bowen Yang). However, chaos predictably ensues when Ja-Young very unpredictably shows up and insists on throwing them a traditional Korean wedding banquet.
Yuh-jung is nothing short of a legend, best known in America for her role in Minari, which won her an Oscar, BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, among many others. She also stars in the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series Pachinko and will soon be seen in Season 2 of the Emmy-winning Netflix series Beef. Yuh-jung has also had a long career in Korea in films like Woman of Fire, The Housemaid, and The Bacchus Lady. Her nuanced performance and chemistry with Gi-chan is one of the highlights of Andrew Ahn’s film.
Collider got the chance to speak with Yuh-jung about why she was initially hesitant to star in The Wedding Banquet (and who ultimately changed her mind), how some of her personal experiences influenced the script, what we can expect from her character in Beef Season 2, and more.
‘The Wedding Banquet’s Youn Yuh-jung Breaks Down Her Nuanced Character

COLLIDER: First of all, congratulations on this film — you blew me away with your performance. I feel like the scenes between your character and Min are some of the most touching in the film. That moment where she talks about how she had to marry someone she didn’t really love is so powerful and adds so much depth and connection to everything. I’m curious if you can talk about how you approached that particular moment in the film.
YOUN YUH-JUNG: Actually, it was written in English, but we had to translate between Andrew and me. We discussed about that scene, and I shared my personal experience with Andrew, so I almost translated in my way. I’m grateful that Andrew accepted my idea.
Something I love about your character is she’s so smart and observant, and she knows a lot more than I feel like she lets on in a lot of ways. Can you talk about playing that element of the character — of someone who sees what’s going on but kind of holds her cards close to her chest a little bit?
YUH-JUNG: When you get older — you can see — my age, I’m able to see what’s going on. Even though I couldn’t speak English well, I can tell. Of course, I’ve been watching him when he was born. And she was, I’m sure, curious about how he was different than others, but they never talk about it. In Korea, we should not talk about it. It’s a very conservative country, so she’s trying to protect him. Her way of loving him is just to protect his money, and she now realized he’s definitely gay, and so I agree with him. That moment, I think we and Andrew did a good job.
Absolutely. There’s so much depth to her because she is very sort of guarded and stoic, but there is this real softness and vulnerability and love underneath. I’m curious if you can talk about how you balance those two sides of the character and how you chose when to let that softer part of her sort of show and come out.
YUH-JUNG: I think all those years she’s been wondering about him but never speaks out, but she finally realized he’s different. I think that character, my character, is a very thoughtful and wise grandmother. She cannot change him — he was born like that — and she accepts all the reality. When you get older, I think you get smarter or wiser.
‘The Wedding Banquet’s Youn Yuh-jung Originally Turned Down the Project

Image via Bleecker Street

I just loved your dynamic with the character of Min. It’s so beautiful and feels so authentic. I’m curious how you developed that chemistry with Gi-chan because you have such a beautiful relationship with each other. I can only imagine you guys did some work on the set outside of the scenes to sort of build that relationship.
YUH-JUNG: Actually, I was complaining about that scene because I met him the first time a couple days ago, and then he was shooting that scene. That was my first day or something like that, so I was complaining and grumpy about how he and I could at least have some relationship between Min and me getting to know each other. And then, right there, he asked me to do it. My son was being my manager because I do have a lack of English. My son said, “Should I talk to Andrew? We can change the date.” I said, “Well, it’s okay — I’m professional. I’m sure they have a reason why they are shooting this fast.” I did it then, and Min followed my feelings — I’m sure he knows me in Korea — and then he can follow my feelings. I don’t know what to say. If it touched you, then I think we did a successful scene, him and me.
You are such an iconic actress who’s done so much in your career, so I’m curious, what is one thing that this role allowed you to do that you feel like you haven’t gotten to do much before?
YUH-JUNG: I think next year is my 60th anniversary of my acting career. To tell you the truth, I’m sure I did everything. [Laughs] I started freshman year in college, so I played many different roles. This one, I wasn’t going to do it because Andrew sent me the script — one of his friends knows me from Minari — and it’s all written in English. With my lack of English, it gives me a headache. I asked my second son to read it, and I was thinking, “Okay, we’re not going to do independent movies anymore.” So we said no to him first. And then my first son read the script, and he’s a fan of Andrew and a fan of Bowen Yang, and said, “You should do it, Mom. It’s not the money.” So I followed my son’s direction, and I did it.
I love that. I am so happy that they convinced you to do it because you’re so wonderful in it. Is there a day or a moment on set that you can remember as being your favorite, whether it was a very funny day or a very moving day? Is there one that really sticks out to you about it?
YUH-JUNG: I only remember a painful day. [Laughs]
Fair enough.
YUH-JUNG: We were shooting the wedding — typical Korean wedding ceremony scene — all crew, Bowen, Lily, and Kelly. All of us were going down to the floor to enter the ceremony place, and Andrew kept asking us to go up again and down again. It was countless. My leg was aching, and I didn’t know why he was taking so many takes. I texted his friend, the one who introduced Andrew, “Your friend is killing me. Please tell him not to take too many takes.” That moment I remember.
Youn Yuh-jung Teases ‘Beef’ Season 2

Image via Sundance

That’s so fair. You pushed through, and you made a great final product. I know people are also going to get to see you in Season 2 of Beef, if I am remembering correctly. Is there anything that you can tell us about your role in that series? I know we’re all very excited for that.
YUH-JUNG: I’m shooting right now. Actually, that’s why I’m in LA because my last day was supposed to be end of March, but it got postponed because of the weather and everything, so my last shooting date in LA would be April — end of April. That one is also a billionaire chairwoman who has a husband 20 years younger than her. That was very interesting. Did you ever hear of Song Kang-ho, the Korean actor? He’s in Parasite, and he’s everywhere with Bong Joon Ho. He could be my second husband, 20 years younger than me — and actual age difference between him and me is 20 years difference. So I’m very curious and excited about how we’re going to play each other.
The Wedding Banquet is now in theaters.

The Wedding Banquet

Release Date

April 18, 2025

Runtime

102 Minutes

Director

Andrew Ahn

Writers

Andrew Ahn, James Schamus

Producers

James Schamus, Julie Goldstein, Daniel Bekerman, Shivani Rawat, Joe Pirro, Kent Sanderson, Anita Gou, Andrew Karpen

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