Youn Yuh-Jung is aware of that life hardly ever follows best-laid plans. After she took dwelling the Oscar for Greatest Supporting Actress for her position in Minari in 2021, the 77-year-old Korean movie icon had no plans to return to the world of American indie movie. She spoke candidly throughout her awards press run concerning the challenges of Minari’s low-budget manufacturing. Her previous few initiatives, together with Apple TV+’s multi-lingual epic Pachinko and the Korean rom-com Canine Days, allowed her to keep shut to dwelling. Then got here the supply for Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 comedy, The Wedding Banquet. Youn was initially hesitant, however finally signed on for a similar motive she’s going to all the time have ties to the U.S.: her household.
Youn has two grownup sons whom she welcomed whereas residing within the U.S. throughout her 10-year hiatus from performing between 1974 and 1984. They each dwell in America; Youn accepted her position in Minari, her first American movie in her 50-year performing profession, partly for the chance to see them. Talking to Marie Claire over Zoom (along with her youthful son and supervisor Nuel Cho serving to to translate), Youn explains that the queer rom-com hit shut to dwelling as a result of her eldest, who identifies as homosexual, inspired her to take the position. And fortunately, filming The Wedding Banquet in cloudy Vancouver, somewhat than beneath the Oklahoma solar, made the expertise all of the extra pleasing. “In contrast with that one, this one was a luxurious to me,” she says.
Ja-young (Youn Yuh-jung, middle) helps Min (Han Gi-chan, left) and Kelly (Kelly Marie Tran, proper) with a marriage ritual.
(Picture credit score: Bleecker Road/ShivHans Footage)
In Ahn’s up to date model of The Wedding Banquet, which arrives in theaters on April 18, Youn performs Ja-young, the Korean matriarch of a multinational company whose closeted grandson Min (Okay-drama actor Han Gi-Chan) is a pupil in Seattle. Ja-young believes it’s time for Min to come dwelling and be part of the household empire, however he’s in a dedicated relationship with commitment-averse Chris (Bowen Yang). So Min thinks up a scheme: He’ll marry Chris’s greatest buddy Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) for a inexperienced card, in trade for paying for her and her girlfriend Lee’s (Lily Gladstone) IVF therapies. The plan instantly blows up when Min’s halmoni makes a visit to meet her grandson’s new bride—and reveals that she isn’t as straightforward to idiot as he thinks.
The Wedding Banquet ended up being an intimate collaboration between Ahn and Youn, with the director and actress crafting her position collectively primarily based on her private expertise. Youn even helped write a late, emotional scene between grandmother and grandson, the place she questions why he felt he wanted to disguise himself. South Korea stays conservative towards LGBTQ+ rights, making this second hit exhausting, realizing how intently artwork displays life for probably the most well-known Korean actress of her technology. “I hope it could launch in Korea,” Youn says of the movie. “I hope we are able to wake them up and open their eyes.”
Min (Han Gi-chan) and Chris (Bowen Yang) in the beginning of The Wedding Banquet.
(Picture credit score: Bleecker Road/ShivHans Footage)
Beneath, Youn chats with Marie Claire about her “by no means say by no means” angle in the direction of her profession, how she examined Han earlier than filming, and what Korean leisure followers have a tendency to overlook concerning the nation.
Marie Claire: The Wedding Banquet is your first Western movie position since Minari. Why did you select to tackle this position?
Youn Yuh-jung: My roles in Western films [tend to] be very restricted as a result of I do not communicate English effectively, or I do not know the tradition that effectively. This movie was written by Andrew Ahn, who’s Korean American, so we now have some related tradition between him and me. I used to be pondering, as a result of I am a really outdated girl, coming here’s a large job for me. I used to be questioning if I ought to go to America once more after which do an impartial movie, with that environment and circumstance. I used to be hesitant, after which I spoke with my two sons. My youngest son stated, ‘Okay mother, that is an indie film, so why do not you skip this one? You may calm down in your nation.’ He recommended sending the script to my older son, [who] is a fan of Andrew Ahn. He can belief him. So my first son recommended, ‘Effectively you need to do it. It is a good position for you.’ So we had a household dialogue and I made a decision to do it.
MC: What was your expertise working with Andrew Ahn? Is it essential to you to proceed to work with Korean-American administrators?
YY: I am undecided about my future as a result of, you realize, life doesn’t go as you deliberate. I discovered that lesson a very long time in the past. So I gained’t say, ‘I will do that,’ or, ‘I will not do that.’ I am not going to promise something. However I believe with Korean American administrators, as an older actor from Korea, perhaps they’re like my children, my boys. My coronary heart goes with them, so I comply with my coronary heart.
The Wedding Banquet quartet, from left: Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), Lee (Lily Gladstone), Min (Han Gi-chan), and Chris (Bowen)
(Picture credit score: Bleecker Road/ShivHans Footage)
MC: What was your expertise working with Han Gi-chan in his first Western movie position?
YY: Within the authentic script, he was supposed to be my son, however I came upon that he is a lot youthful than my sons’ ages. So I recommended to Andrew, ‘No, he can’t be my son. He could possibly be my grandson.’ On the primary day we met, Andrew and Gi-chan came visiting to the condo the place I used to be staying. As quickly as he walked within the door, I stated, ‘Sit. Okay, open your script, let’s go.’ There was not a lot of a hello or a whats up. It was a ‘let’s go,’ they usually had been fairly shocked. I used to be testing him. Possibly Andrew thought I used to be very harsh on him, but when he desires to be an expert, he has to be prepared. That is my philosophy about performing. Gi-chan did actually good on the primary read-through. He handed my check.
MC: I appreciated that your character noticed via her grandson’s ruse very early. In Ja-young’s backstory, how lengthy has she suspected that Min is homosexual?
YY: Possibly since Min was a younger boy, as a result of Ja-young raised him as an alternative of his mother and father. His mother and father handed away earlier than he bought older, so she was watching him. Possibly she sensed that he was totally different than different boys. However Min by no means spoke about that scenario or his id in Korea. Our nation may be very conservative, so popping out to their mother and father is, I believe, more durable than popping out between pals. That was my thought of that position.
With Korean American administrators, as an older actor from Korea, perhaps they’re like my children. My coronary heart goes with them, so I comply with my coronary heart.
MC: How would you describe the extent of private battle Ja-young has as a chaebol to somebody who isn’t acquainted with Korean tradition?
YY: It’s particularly due to all the general public eyes on their firm. Then, if he comes out as homosexual, he is not going to inherit any cash from his grandfather, so she’s attempting to shield him. All she was fascinated about was defending him as a member of the family. I believe that concept of attempting to have a pretend wedding ceremony to put within the newspaper, that confirmed the love between Ja-young and Gi-chan. That is why he appreciated the plan.
MC: The pretend wedding ceremony permits Ja-young to observe how completely happy Min is in his relationship. Whenever you first mentioned the position, was it essential that she step by step grew to become extra accepting?
YY: Andrew and I developed that story between sharing his expertise and my expertise. I truly wrote my strains between Gi-chan and Ja-young on the finish of the movie, as a result of Andrew understood. He accepted that I used to be going to write this dialogue between Ja-young and Gi-chan, [which] I in fact bought accredited. My essential line, it was not within the script, however in Korean, I stated, ‘Whether or not you’re straight or homosexual, to begin with, you’re my grandson.’ That was crucial. I believe these strains had been my private emotions to Gi-chan, and my private expertise.
MC: What do you hope viewers take away from the movie?
YY: I hope it could launch in Korea. We’re a really conservative society, so they don’t seem to be accepting of homosexual marriage, or popping out as a homosexual to a mom or father. Korean tradition is so within the microscope of the world now. The world sees us as trendy and futuristic, however you’ve to be reminded typically. We’re such a younger nation. I used to be born in 1947. We did not get our first president till 1953, so I used to be 6 once we first grew to become a rustic. You might have to put that into perspective, which explains numerous our conservative values that also exist. So I hope we are able to wake them up and open their eyes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.