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>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY! WELCOME BACK.
MY NEXT GUEST IS AN ACTOR YOU KNOW FROM "THE WALKING DEAD,"
"OKJA", AND "BURNING."
HIS LATEST FILM IS "MINARI."
>> EVIE -- ( SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE ) WHOO!
>> WHOO!
WHOO OOOOOOO!
>> Stephen: PLEASE WELCOME TO "A LATE SHOW," STEVEN YEUN.
HEY, STEVEN.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
>> HEY, STEPHEN, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
THIS IS SO COOL.
>> Stephen: ONE THING WE HAVE IN COMMON BESIDES OUR NAME,
PEOPLE OUT THERE OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA YOU AND I BOTH WORKED AT
THE SECOND CITY IN CHICAGO.
YOU WERE THE NATIONAL TOURING COMPANY, RIGHT?
>> YEAH, I GOT A BRIEF STINT AT THE TOURING COMPANY.
IT WAS AWESOME.
I GOT TO LOOK AT YOUR IMAGE QUITE A BIT.
>> Stephen: YOU LUCKY MAN.
( LAUGHTER ) A LOT OF PEOPLE DO COMEDY AND
THEY END UP DOING NOTHING ELSE WITH THEIR CAREERS, BUT HOW THAT
IS IMPROV OR IMPROV COMEDY EVEN HELPED YOU AS A DRAMATIC ACTOR?
>> YOU KNOW, IMPROV IS SUCH A GREAT FOUNDATION, I THINK, YOU
KNOW, THE TENETS OF STAYING PRESENT, LISTENING, BEING
SPONTANEOUS, THOSE ARE ALL REALLY GREAT FIRST TOOLS TO KIND
OF LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR ME AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT THAT
DIFFERENT THAN DRAMATIC ACTING.
YOU KNOW, DRAMATIC ACT, YOU JUST DON'T HAVE TO BE WITTY AND FUNNY
THE WHOLE TIME.
THAT TAKES A WHOLE SECTION OF THE THING OFF.
SOUTH NICE.
>> Stephen: SOMEBODY GIVES YOU LINES.
>> YEAH, AND THEY TELL YOU WHAT TO SAY.
SO THAT'S ALSO EASIER.
>> Stephen: YOU HAVE BEEN ACT AGO LONG TIME -- ACTING A LONG
TIME.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE THIS PHOTOGRAPH.
THIS IS YOU IN KINDERGARTEN RIGHT THERE.
WERE YOU ACTING EVEN AT THAT AGE?
>> YOU KNOW WHAT?
LOOKING BACK, I PROBABLY WAS.
I JUST -- THAT IMAGE OF ME LANDING IN SASKATCHEWAN IN MY
FIRST YEAR OF SCHOOL IN AMERICA, IN THE WEST, AND I -- I PROBABLY
WENT INWARD FROM THAT POINT ON.
NOT TO BE SAD ABOUT IT, BUT, YEAH, I THINK I STARTED, YOU
KNOW, THAT WAS MASK WORK STARTING THERE.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE -- DID YOU HAVE ENGLISH AT THIS AGE?
>> NO, I HAD NO ENGLISH.
MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME THE FIRST ENGLISH WORDS I LEARNED WERE
"DON'T CRY."
>> Stephen: OH, MY GOSH.
YEAH.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE SAID IT TO YOU?
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: OH, MY GOD!
( LAUGHTER ) HOW DO YOU SAY "DON'T CRY" IN
KOREAN?
( SPEAKING KOREAN ) >> Stephen: I NEED TO HEAR
THAT RIGHT NOW, JUST THINKING OF THIS CHILD BEING TOLD NOT TO
CRY.
SO WHAT WAS -- WHEN DID YOU SAY TO YOURSELF, OKAY, I WANT TO DO
THIS AS -- I WANT TO BE A PERFORMER, I WANT TO MAKE THIS
MY LIFE?
>> YOU KNOW, I WENT TO COLLEGE -- I WENT TO COLLEGE IN
KALAMAZOO, KALAMAZOO COLLEGE, AND I GOT TO SEE MY IMPROV
TROUPE AT MY SCHOOL THAT JORDAN KLEPPER WAS A PART OF.
>> Stephen: OH, WOW.
AND HE WASN'T THERE, UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN I WENT
THERE.
BUT I KIND OF GRAVITATE TOWARDS IT.
I LOVE THE FREEDOM, I LOVE THE PERFORMANCE.
HONESTLY, IT WAS -- I THINK IT WAS JUST LIKE YOU CAN BE
ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE UP THERE AT ANY GIVEN TIME, AND PEOPLE
WILL LAUGH IF YOU'RE FUNNY.
SO I LIKE THE CHALLENGE OF THAT, I GUESS.
>> Stephen: WELL, THE NEW FILM "MINARI" IS ABOUT -- IT'S A
KOREAN-AMERICAN FAMILY THAT MOVES TO ARKANSAS IN PURSUIT OF
THEIR DREAM.
WHWHAT DOES THE WORD MINARI MEAN WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT?
>> MINARI, IT'S A PLANT.
IT'S A PLANT THAT, IN ITS VERY PROFOUND WAY ISAAC, OUR
DIRECTOR, LEE ISAAC CHUNG HAS THIS GREAT STORY ABOUT HOW HIS
GRANDMOTHER PLANTED IT WHEN SHE CAME OVER TO JOIN THE FAMILY
FARM.
IT DIES IN THE FIRST YEAR AND THRIVES IN THE SECOND.
SO YOU HARVEST THE SECOND GROWING.
IT ACTUALLY PURIFIES THE WATER AND THE SOIL AROUND IT.
HE TOLD ME IN ALL THE YEARS THAT HIS DAD TRIED TO DO ALL THESE
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CROPS, THE THING THAT GREW THE BEST WAS HIS
GRANDMOTHER'S MINARI, THEY DIDN'T REEL HAVE TO KEEP AFTER
IT, JUST DID IT ON ITS OWN.
>> Stephen: WE'LL TAKE A QUICK BREAK.
STICK AROUND.
BACK WITH NOR STEVEN YEUN.