Yuh Jung Youn

Minari star Yuh-Jung Youn recounts her journey to becoming an actor, earning her first Oscar nomination

"Me, a 73-year-old Asian woman could have never even dreamed about being nominated for an Oscar. Minari brought me a lot of gifts," says veteran Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn, who plays Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung’s immigrant drama.

BAFTA 2021 highlights: Minari star Yuh-Jung Youn thanks 'snobbish' Brits after win; Chloe Zhao creates history with Best Director award

Chloe Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of colour, to win the BAFTA for best director

In Lee Isaac Chung's Minari, a deeply personal story of harvesting an American dream

Wanting to find a balance between a memory piece and melodrama, Chung imaged something that combined the neo-realism of Roberto Rossellini’s Stromboli with the earthy, wide-screen American epics like East of Eden and Giant that his father raised him on.