Although he started out as part of stand-up groups in Chicago, everything changed for him when he was added to a series that no one was betting much on in its first season. However, The Walking Dead was one of the biggest TV hits of the past decade and Steven Yeun won the hearts of fans playing Glenn Rhee, one of the first Asian heroes of the new era of diversity. After playing him for six seasons, the Seoul-born immigrated to Canada and then the United States went on to develop an impressive career that included the lead role in the multi-award-winning Minari, for which he was nominated for the oscar At 39, Yeun shines again in Bronca , a Netflix comedy-drama in which he plays Danny Cho, a down-on-his-luck handyman who becomes embroiled in a showdown to the death with a millionaire artist played by Ali Wong, from ‘a traffic misunderstanding.

How did you get involved in the project?

The creator of the series, Lee Sung Ji, told me that he had an idea to create a story about two people fighting in traffic. And that was all it took to convince me. What excited me was receiving the scripts and seeing the level of dialogue. In the pilot you have an idea of ​​where the story can go, but reading the dialogues you get the feeling that everything is very real. It is written as if Sung Ji had been a fly on the wall listening in on the conversations between the characters.

What did you enjoy most about playing Danny?

Which reminds me of myself in many ways. Yesterday I charged a glass door and I felt it might happen to Danny.

He has generally played dramatic roles. What was it like to explore his side as a comedian?

It’s funny because I didn’t feel like it explored any new facets. It was simply getting involved in the unfortunate drama of his life. That’s why while we were recording I felt that there were elements of both. Of course the shame part was added there, where I see Danny go through all these things and wonder why I don’t forgive him. I spend the whole time judging him, trying to make sense of what he’s doing, biting my lip at what he’s about to do. And in this sense interpreting it was a challenge. Every day of filming I asked Sung Ji why he was making me do these things. It’s just that sometimes I forgot that Bronca was a comedy. I took everything very seriously.

Many of Danny’s bad decisions come from a good place, from trying to have a closer relationship with his brother or taking care of his parents. But it would seem that he always ends up tripping over himself. What was it like playing someone who is so frustrated?

I identify with Danny because I was a bit like that. He was stuck in a place he couldn’t get out of. I grew up in a family of immigrants, with this need of the first child of the United States to control what was around me as much as possible. I see Danny as someone who doesn’t quite understand who he is, who constantly feels like he’s living the story he creates in his head over and over again. His way of seeing the world means that he never feels that he is at the height of others. It’s an awkward place for someone like him. But he is very genuine in his frustrations. And if he could get himself out of the way, he would open the door and leave. But he doesn’t know that he himself is being held hostage. In that sense I can’t say that it has been a cathartic process for me, but it has been a bit shocking to return to a place where when I was younger I couldn’t see my own reflection.