-Welcome to the show. -Thanks for having me.
-Yeah. This is your -- This is your talk-show debut.
-First time. -Wow. This is...
[ Cheers and applause ] I'm honored. I'm honored.
-It's quite surreal. -Yeah.
-Actually, this is not the first time we met, though.
So, eight years ago,
when I first moved to New York and --
-We've met each other? -Eight years ago, yeah.
This is when I was still delusional
with the pipe dream of acting.
And I was -- I had just moved to New York,
and I was walking through Gramercy
to play ball on the East Side, and you were in the garden,
talking to some woman with a stroller.
And we made eye contact through the black gate.
And we just kind of, like -- I was just, like, with my ball
and just smiling, like [Gasps].
And then you were just staring at me pensively,
and we locked eyes for, like, a prolonged couple seconds,
like, a weird recognition of sorts.
And then I just walked away thinking like, "Wow, one day,
if I ever get a chance to tell Jimmy this story,
I'll do that." And it's crazy that...
[ Cheers and applause ] -I have a feeling.
-It's weird. -I had a feeling about you.
Yeah, when I saw you, I go, "He's gonna be big.
You're gonna be big one day, kid.
[ Laughter ] -I was giving you the vibes.
I go, "Hey, stick with it, pal."
-I'm like, "What is this guy looking at?"
[ Laughter ] -"What is he doing?" Yeah.
You moved to New York with the goal, "Acting.
This is what I want to do." -Yeah.
Yeah, and what was that ride like?
-[ Sighs ] Trials and tribulations.
Kind of went through the grind, learned how to, you know,
eat, sleep for dinner, and things like that.
But then New York, this --
the spirit of New York kind of opened up herself.
And there's a lot of serendipity that just carried me
through like seven years of a concrete-jungle grind.
-Did you get any gigs before "Beef"?
-Yeah, I mean, I did -- I worked with, like,
all the university's, like, student films,
indie films, short films,
a lot of films I hope nobody ever finds.
And a number of performances I hope no one ever sees.
[ Laughter ]
So it kind of felt like a failing upward trajectory.
-Yeah. -To get to "Beef."
-But I read somewhere, I thought,
that you maybe thought about quitting acting
because you're like, "I don't know if I'm gonna do it.
I don't know if it's gonna work out."
-Numerous amount of times.
I think one needs delusion
to pursue acting and to stay the course.
But I just got to a point where I did enough psychedelics
to kind of realize... [ Laughter ]
To realize, like, "Am I happy pursuing this?
Am I the same person when I started?"
And trying to -- like, trying to reevaluate
where my happiness truly lies
and whether that's in the craft or Hollywood.
-Were your parents supportive in this decision?
-No, no. [ Laughter ]
Sorry. Initially, no.
But I just remember the dinner...
[ Chuckles ] We were having dinner,
and I was, like, in my fifth year of college, flailing,
and I -- mind you, my dad has like five master's, PhD,
and he's a very -- education is key to him.
And that's how he supported his whole family.
And I remember we were eating, and I was like,
"I'm gonna drop out of college, move to New York."
I had nothing lined up. I didn't know anything.
I was Googling, "How do you become an actor?"
And they were like, "You got to be in New York or L.A."
And I just remember the way my dad,
like, put his spoon down and the way he kind of sat back.
It was like this resignation of like, "God damn it," like...
[ Laughter ] -"I did everything I could."
-Like, "This guy --" -"This kid is gonna kill me."
He's like, "Gosh, we're so close to making a perfect human."
-And I just kind of went... -And you went the other way.
But now you're on "Beef," and everyone's talking about it.
It's one of the top 10 shows on all Netflix.
[ Cheers and applause ] Giant hit.
-Yeah. -You're fantastic in it.
-Thank you. -And what does --
What do they think now, Mom and Dad?
-Well, I showed my parents, my family, the early screeners.
So they watched the whole thing. And then my my dad called,
and he doesn't really call me often,
and he's a man of few words, and he's like, "Young,
you're a good actor." -Nah.
-So that kind of, you know... -Dude, that's all you want.
-Yeah, that's, like -- Yeah. -That's all you want.
You get that from Dad. I love that.
And you're getting early buzz on Emmy nominations.
I don't know if you're hearing any of this,
or all that stuff, but it's well-deserved.
I mean, you're a breakout hit.
-Yeah, but I will have to say that a lot of my performance
is because of -- it's due to, you know,
set design, the lighting, the scene partners that I had.
Steven Yeun, Ali Wong. -Oh, yeah, Ali Wong, yeah.
-Showrunner Lee Sung Jin, AKA Sonny,
who's also a brilliant writer, creator.
So, you know, a lot of my performance,
I think, is just due to them providing so much
and being so generous with their energy.
-A good team.
-I'll take it. -Yeah.
-Thank you. -I want to show a clip.
Here's Young Mazino in "Beef." Take a look.
-We should go sometime. Harbor?
Oh, it's sick. There's this ride, Taboo Towers.
Got one way up, three ways down. It's unpredictable.
Kind of like how I live my life.
Anyways, I do investing. This is, like, my side gig.
So if you ever need investing advice.
[ Clank ]
Um, I-I'll be right back. -Okay.
-Yo. You done yet?
-I would be if you were helping me
instead of flirting with the customer base.
-Dude, it's called client services.
[ Cellphone chimes ]
-Do not text on the job. [ Cellphone clicking ]
-Who is that?
-Her name's Kayla. Yo, she's bad, right?
-This is a bot.
-You're a bot.
[ Laughter ]
-"You're a bot."
Young Mazino. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Thank you.
-"Beef" is streaming now on Netflix.