Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung always seems to have the perfect comeback. Take the 2021 Academy Awards, when a reporter asked her what Brad Pitt smelled like. Her famous reply? “I didn’t smell him. I’m not a dog!” Or the time she called the British “very snobbish people” while accepting a BAFTA—a comment that could have easily offended, if not for her clever delivery. Instead of upsetting anyone, she had the audience in stitches.

“It came out naturally,” she tells Vogue about that BAFTA moment. “It was five in the morning in Korea time. I wasn’t myself. I felt so sorry! They’re such nice people.”

Still, the comment didn’t come out of nowhere. It was actually based on her experience as an acting fellow at Cambridge University in the early 2000s.

“I realized they’re well-educated and very elite people, but I felt like they are…” She pauses. “Snobbish,” she adds with a laugh.

Even though she admits she’s a bit embarrassed by her past acceptance speeches (despite The New York Times calling hers the best of the 2021 Oscars), it’s exactly Youn’s blunt charm and disarming sense of humor that have won over audiences worldwide.

One of South Korea’s most beloved and respected actresses, Youn broke through in the West by playing the foul-mouthed grandmother Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung’s 2020 semi-autobiographical film Minari. She won several awards for the role, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first Korean actor to win an Academy Award and the second Asian woman to win that category in the Academy’s nearly 100-year history.

After Minari, she starred in more Hollywood productions, including Apple TV’s Pachinko, 2025’s The Wedding Banquet, and most recently, the second season of Netflix’s Beef, where she plays Chairwoman Park, the billionaire owner of a country club.

Youn’s acting career started by chance. While studying at Seoul’s Hanyang University in the 1960s, she was looking for a part-time job to help pay tuition. While visiting a TV station, someone asked if she could hand out prizes to the audience of a children’s game show.

“I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’ And I did,” she says. “Then they gave me the check. I was surprised, so I kept going.”

Then one day, a producer at the station invited her to audition for an acting role. “You know, my major was Korean literature,” Youn says, explaining that the TV network had tried but failed to attract film school students. “My life is full of surprises.”

After appearing in a few TV series, she made her feature film debut in her early 20s, playing a live-in housemaid who wreaks havoc on a middle-class family in Kim Ki-young’s 1971 thriller Woman of Fire. The role made her a national star and earned her several domestic and international acting awards. Around the same time, she played another femme fatale in the historical TV drama Jang Hee Bin, which further boosted her popularity.

Then, in 1974, at the height of her early fame, she married Jo Young-nam, a famous Korean singer invited by the late evangelist Billy Graham to perform at his crusades across the US. Youn put her thriving acting career on hold and followed Jo to Florida, where he studied at Trinity College of Florida. She became a housewife and later a mother to their two sons.

Nine years later, the family returned to Korea, but Jo’s repeated affairs led to their divorce in 1987. With no child support from her ex-husband, Youn raised their sons on her own. She tried to restart her acting career in Korea but found that no TV network wanted

Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about Youn Yuhjungs reaction to her Beef success written in a natural conversational tone

Beginner General Questions

1 What did Youn Yuhjung say about not expecting the success of Beef
She said she was completely shocked She didnt think the show would be popular because its so intense and weird and she even joked that she thought people would hate it

2 Why didnt she think Beef would be a hit
She felt the story was too dark and specificabout road rage and revengeand she didnt think American audiences would connect with it She also thought her character a blunt Korean mother was too harsh

3 Did she expect to win an Emmy for her role
No She admitted she had zero expectations She even said she didnt prepare a speech because she was sure she wouldnt win

4 What did she say about working with Steven Yeun and Ali Wong
She praised them as incredibly talented and kind She said she felt like a lucky grandmother being surrounded by such great actors

5 How did her life change after Beef
She said she got a lot more attention and offers but she found it overwhelming She joked that she just wanted to go back to her quiet life in Korea

Advanced Deeper Questions

6 Shes a legendary actress in Korea Why was she surprised by global fame
Shes been acting for over 50 years in Korea but she never expected international recognition She felt her style of actingvery natural and unfilteredmight not translate well to a global audience

7 Did she think her character Youngmi was relatable to nonKorean viewers
She was skeptical She thought the characters mix of toughness and vulnerability was very Korean She was shocked that people from all over the world loved her

8 What specific line or scene did she think would be misunderstood
She worried about the scene where she tells her son You are nothing In Korean culture its a harsh but loving way to push someone She thought Western audiences would just see it as cruel