Steven Yeun thinks racism and a lack of Asian representation exist in Hollywood — but not necessarily on “The Walking Dead.”
Yeun, 33, starred as Korean American good guy Glenn Rhee on the AMC smash until (spoiler alert!) his character was bludgeoned to death by villain Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The death was one of the most brutal on the series, but Yeun points out it’s also one of the most memorable, which makes it a standout for an Asian character.
“Maybe it’s something to be said that you’ve never seen an Asian character die like that onscreen before — because we don’t have Asian people onscreen to die! Even when we do die, we die silently,” he told Vulture.
“I think the cruelest thing is that if Glenn had continued on, knowing how things usually shake out, I could totally foresee a situation where he just slowly, quietly disappears into the background and is kind of remembered but not really,” Yeun added. “But in this way, it was like holding up a battered skull to the world to be like, ‘Don’t forget, this Asian person existed in this medium and now he’s f—king dead.’ Like, he is f—king dead. That’s super cool! I’m cool with that.”
Still, that doesn’t mean the actor is immune from racial bias in casting.
“I think a lot of the narrative these days has been about how much it’s skewed against us because the system and the people are biased against us, and that’s very true,” he said. “But I think one narrative that’s always missing is, ‘Where have we contributed to that?’ Where are we as Asian-Americans right now and how have we contributed either to that perception or the solution?”
He continued, “I would say that with our generation, you talk to a dude and sometimes they do the version of the Asian that they think America is telling them they’re supposed to be, and they don’t even know it.
“That’s where we have to be realistic: At what point are you circulating and fulfilling the cycle of our underrepresentation? Because what I will say is that they’re waiting for us … Look at casting directors, projects, and how things are. They are literally waiting for Asian people, and they want to cast them. I think we’re at that precipice where they’re catching up on how to do it in the right way, but I see it happening,” he said.