Steven Yeun Lands First Best Actor Oscar Nom for an Asian American

Former The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun made Oscar history.

Yeun was nominated for a 2021 Oscar in the Best Actor category for his performance as Jacob Yi in Lee Issac Chung's Minari, making him the first Asian-American to have ever been nominated in a lead acting category in Oscar history, as reported by TVLine.

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Yeun's nomination was announced alongside the rest of the 2021 Oscar contenders for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards. Yeun will be competing for 2021's Best Actor against Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) Anthony Hopkins (The Father) Gary Oldman (Mank) and the late Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). Boseman is the seventh actor to have earned an Oscar nomination posthumously. Heath Ledger was the last posthumous Oscar nomination for his performance as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight, which he also won.

In Minari, Yeun plays Jacob Yi, the patriarch of a Korean-American household. Jacob moves his family from California to the midwest so that he can start a farm growing and selling Korean food. The film, based on Chung's childhood experiences, portrays a conflicted father struggling to provide for his family to achieve the American Dream.

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Minari's director and co-star Youn Yuh-Jung were also nominated for Oscars in the Best Director and Best Supporting Actress categories, respectively. Minari will also be in contention for Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. The family tale will compete for Best Picture against NomadlandThe FatherJudas and the Black MessiahPromising Young WomanMankThe Trial of the Chicago 7 and Sound of Metal.

Directed and written by Lee Issac Chung, Minari stars Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Scott Haze, Yu-Jung Youn and Will Patton.

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Source: TVLine


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