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| Actress Youn Yuh-jung accepts the Oscar for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as "Soonja" in the film "Minari," during the live ABC Telecast of the 93rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, local time. Reuters-Yonhap |
'I didn't smell him. I'm not dog,' says Youn when asked how Brad Pitt smells like
By Park Ji-won
Award-winning "Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho stressed that actress Youn's historic win at the Academy Awards ― for Best Supporting Actress for her role as "Soonja" in the film "Minari," a story centering on a Korean immigrant family who seeks the "American Dream" on Sunday, local time ―was "Youn's personal triumph, not that of the Korean film scene." Nevertheless, the news still excited many Koreans and international media outlets, not only because Youn was the first Korean national to win an Oscar, breaking through the glass ceiling of what some consider a conservative Western-centric awards event, but also as a result of her warm acceptance speech, filled with life wisdom.
Youn, the 73-year-old veteran actress who started her acting career in 1966 as an actress for stage plays and TV series, experienced a resurgence in popularity after appearing in tvN's variety shows, such as "Sisters Over Flowers" and "Youn's Kitchen," directed by star producer Na Young-seok in the 2010s. In addition to her skilled acting, her humorous but therapeutic, off-the-cuff comments have captivated many Koreans.
Critics said that the reason behind the popularity of Youn's remarks is that she breaks the stereotype of the "elderly Asian actress."
"I think American people evaluated her highly because they like humor. Youn broke the ice at the awards ceremony by joking with Brad Pitt. The audience seem to be impressed and find it refreshing that an old actress from an Asian country does that. Also, her attitude of being humble and taking other nominees into consideration during her acceptance speech made her shine," culture critic Ha Jae-geun told The Korea Times on the phone Tuesday.
"In Korea, people, especially those who are young, think the older generation tend to be oppressive and self-centered. But Youn is seen as being frank, democratic and considerate. That is one of reasons that the young generation like her remarks."
This time, her remarks appear to have been received as delightfully fresh to many people outside of Korea, as many international media outlets highlighted her remarks made during the Academy Awards.
Under the title, "Brad Pitt fan and Oscars-winner Yuh-jung Youn has been a bright light of award season," CNN wrote, "One of the most 'stars are just like us' moments at Sunday's Academy Awards happened while Yuh-jung Youn was on stage becoming a winner among them."
In an article entitled, "Big Moments From the 2021 Oscars. Here's What You Missed," The New York Times wrote that, "She didn't repeat her BAFTA roast, but she did offer a kindly zinger Sunday night." Referring to her acceptance speech, AP wrote, "Youn was as charmingly candid as her character in 'Minari.'"
The Atlantic wrote that, "For some, like the supporting-actress winner Youn Yuh-jung, this meant cheekily berating Brad Pitt for not visiting the set of her film, 'Minari' ― which was made through his production company, Plan B ― while others simply read a longer-than-usual laundry list of people to thank." Even WMagazine wrote that, "Yuh-jung Youn's Best Supporting Actress Acceptance Speech Won the Oscars."
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| Frances McDormand, left, winner of the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Nomadland," and Youn Yuh-jung, winner of the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Minari," pose in the press room at the Oscars, in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, local time. Reuters-Yonhap |
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| Youn Yuh-jung, winner of the Best Supporting Actress Award for "Minari," poses in the press room at the Oscars, in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, local time. Reuters-Yonhap |
Here are some excerpts from Youn's memorable remarks in English and Korean during her acceptance speech and post-ceremony press conferences. Some remarks were edited for clarity.
Starting with, "Mr. Brad Pitt. Finally! Nice to meet you. Where were you when we were filming? As you know, I'm from Korea and my name is Yuh-jung Youn. Most European people call me Yuh-youn, and some of them call me Yu-jeong. But tonight, you are all forgiven."
"I don't believe in competition. How could I win over Glenn Close? I've been watching her many performances. All of my five nominees, we're winners for different movies, we play different roles. Tonight, I just have a little bit of luck, I think, maybe… I'm luckier than you."
"I'd like to thank my two boys who made me go out and work. This is the result of mommy having worked so hard."
After her win, when asked by a reporter what Brad Pitt ― who announced Youn as the winner and handed the Oscar statuette to her ― smelled like, Youn said, "I didn't smell him, I'm not a dog."
On the topic of Asian cultural diversity in film, she said, "It's about time. It's very nice to understand each other, and we should embrace each other, because without choosing to or categorizing ourselves, we ourselves are categorized as 'Black,' 'white,' 'yellow,' 'Brown,' something like that. And that's just not a nice way to divide people. If we put diverse colors together, the whole becomes prettier ― like a rainbow... Color doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter. I don't like to divide like this; man and woman, black and white, yellow, brown, gay, straight, or something like that. I don't want that kind of thing. We are equal human beings who all have the same warm heart."
During the press conference for the Korean press after the ceremony, she said, "I didn't expect that I would win. I really wanted Glenn Close to win the Oscar. I have been watching her get nominated eight times at the Academy Awards for many years. In the year 2000 or 2001, when I visited the U.K., I saw her performance of Blanche, the lead role in the play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' I thought that the role has usually been played by young actresses. But she, who was the same age as me, was playing it."
"When people around me said that I might win the award, I didn't believe it, because I have been betrayed by many, having lived this long. So I didn't expect this would happen. But I feel embarrassed as my English was poorer during the acceptance speech than I can normally speak."
"I asked Brad Pitt, who was in charge of the production of 'Minari' to spend more money on the next film. But he slipped away. He didn't say that he would spend a lot, but he said he would spend a little bit more."
When she was asked whether winning an Academy Award was the best moment of her life, Youn said, "There will be no one best moment. I hate such words. I don't know if it's the best moment, but the Academy isn't everything. It's too bad for us right now. The walls of the Academy are so high for Asian people. They are even higher than Trump's Wall."
"Let's not try to be the best, I think. You just have to be the 'best middle.' Can't we all just live equally? Does this remark make me a socialist?"
When asked why she chose the "Minari" script, Youn said, "I decided to live a luxurious life after the age of 60. If a colleague was a good person to me, I would work with them. When I first received the script, it was so genuine. It is not skillfully written, but it had some authenticity, which moved me, and I am old enough to know. But most of the time I don't buy other scripts. So I met the director, and he was so genuine, unlike other directors who brag about themselves."
When asked about her future plans and the reasons why the film was so highly recognized, she said, "I don't know, because I am not a psychic. As an actress, I just study how to perform. I didn't know how things would go. If I had known that, I would have ran a business. I don't have a plan."
"But I made up my mind a long time ago. As I get older, it gets harder for me to memorize lines. I don't want to become a burden to others. So I would be happy if I could do this job as long as I do not become a burden for others."
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| People watch a TV screen showing a news program with file footage reporting the fact that Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Minari," at Seoul Station in Seoul on Monday. AP-Reuters |
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