Awards season is upon us, folks. Today, the Academy announced the full list of nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards. Among the long list of nominees is Minari star Steven Yeun, who became the first Asian-American to earn a nomination in the Best Male Lead category. The record-breaking move by the Academy has been met with celebration by fans across the world, including a major show-runner on The Walking Dead.
Angela Kang, who has been working on the hit AMC show since 2011, shared a heartfelt celebratory tweet for Steven Yeun and Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari nominations. Check it out:
Despite Steven Yeun's Glenn being killed off The Walking Dead back in Season 7, it looks like there’s still a lot of support from the team running the show. It’s not surprising considering the elaborate Backstreet Boys sendoff they put together for his departure. Since leaving the show, Yeun has had an impressive career, appearing in the critically acclaimed South Korean thriller Burning and Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You.
Steven Yeun’s Best Actor nomination comes after Minari’s roller-coaster awards run, where it was relegated to the foreign film category at the Golden Globes, despite being American-made. Lee Isaac Chung’s film ended up winning the Foreign Film category. However, fans were still upset by the decision handed down by the Globes. Particularly because that the standard with which they place films into the foreign category had been loosely applied in years past.
Fortunately, it looks like the decision by the Globes didn’t hurt the film's chances at the Oscars, as Minari has earned a total of six nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The nominations came after last year’s historic Best Picture win for Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.
Despite his leading man status, impressive career and rising stardom, many fans still remember Steven Yeun as Glenn from his time on The Walking Dead. Over the course of the hit AMC show he became a fan favorite. That is until he was brutally dispatched by Jeffery Dean Morgan’s Negan in the Season 7 premiere.
With The Walking Dead ending its historic run with the upcoming 11th season, it’s unlikely that fans will see Glenn back in action. Although the zombie-filled universe has a number of spin-offs in production, the actor has already clarified that if there was a Glenn prequel show, he doesn’t think he’d be the right one for the job.
That’s okay though, because it’s looking like Yeun is slowly but surely climbing the Hollywood food chain. I’m sure that Angela Kang isn’t the only Walking Dead veteran who is excited for him.
I, for one, am among the ranks of the Steven Yeun hive and couldn’t be happier for the guy, especially after his bitingly hilarious performance on I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. Fans can check out Minari on Amazon right now. As for the Oscar race, be sure to check back with CinemaBlend, where we will have a full round up of winners when the ceremony commences on April 25.
