Steven Yeun

Your character, Ben, is open to quite a bit of interpretation…

I had a natural inclination to understanding him from one entry point, which is a man who’s in a state of existential angst. He’s used to it at this point, and he has the methods to float through it – he’s rich.

Presumably, you have your own take on who he is?

It’s interesting to see how people come to their own conclusions about who this person is. Director Lee was like, “You’re the only person, at the end, who will know what this character has or hasn’t done.” I made a choice for myself. Nobody else knows. Director Lee doesn’t even know. Some people look at Ben and see a kind man; some see evil.

The Walking Dead, Okja, Sorry To Bother You… Your radar for quality is strong…

I could get pigeon-holed into something more action-paced or reflective of The Walking Dead, or, in a larger sense, it could be about stereotypical visions of what Asian people are in the western world. They are the things I tend to avoid. And they don’t make it hard. I have a joke with my manager: if they spell my last name wrong, that’s probably the one that’s not going to be good. JG