‘Minari’ Star Yuh-Jung Youn Called British People ‘Very Snobbish’ During Viral BAFTA Win
Zack Sharf
“Minari” star Yuh-Jung Youn was the big winner of the 2021 BAFTA Film Awards, and it’s not only because she took home the prize for Best Supporting Actress thanks to her performance in Lee Isaac Chung’s moving immigrant family drama. Youn’s BAFTA acceptance speech has gone viral for her tongue-in-cheek jab at British people, whom she called “very snobbish.” Youn was a first-time BAFTA nominee and winner this year.
“Thank you so much for this award,” Youn said during the virtual telecast. “Every award is meaningful, but this one, especially being recognized by British people, known as very snobbish people, and they approve of me as a good actor, so I’m very, very privileged and happy. Thank you so much.”
Backstage at the BAFTA Film Awards, Youn said calling British people “very snobbish” came “from personal experience,” adding, “I’ve visited Britain a lot of times and I had a fellowship in a Cambridge college ten years ago as an actor. Somehow it felt very snobbish, but not in a bad way. You have a long history and then you have your pride. As an Asian woman, I felt these people are very snobbish, that’s my honest feeling.
Youn has emerged as the Oscar frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress after collecting prizes at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier this month. When asked at the SAG Awards (via Insider) about her Oscar chances, Youn admitted she is entirely clueless when it comes to awards season here in the states.
“I don’t know anything about Oscars or BAFTAs,” Youn said. “In Korea, I’ve been in this business for such a long time. I’m very famous domestic-wise, not internationally. I don’t know what’s going on now, I don’t know what’s happening to me. So don’t ask me!”
Youn’s Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress is one of six Oscars “Minari” is competing for later this month. This film is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Steven Yeun, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay. Should Youn win the Oscar, it will give distributor A24 yet another acting Academy Award after the likes of Brie Larson for “Room” and Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight.”
