Feisty Youn, 73, is poised to light up Oscars night
SHE enjoys smoking and drinking “lots” of white wine, and loves nothing more than lounging in bed all day watching TV or listening to old Neil Diamond songs.
Some of her favourite outfits in her wardrobe are 40 years old but don’t criticise her: she can bear a grudge for ever.
At 73, Yuh-jung Youn might be an unlikely first-time Oscar nominee. But the South Korean actress, and star of surprise hit film Minari, is aiming to take Hollywood by storm tonight.
She hopes to complete an astonishing “treble” at the Academy Awards by adding a best supporting actress gold statuette to the Bafta and Screen Actors Guild wins she has already racked up this month. She would be the first Korean actress to win an Oscar.
Though a long-time major celebrity in her homeland, Youn’s sudden and meteoric worldwide rise has taken many in Tinseltown by surprise. But she will walk the red carpet tonight as one of the bookies’ top tips to land the most coveted prize of all.
Septuagenarian “hell-raising” aside, Youn credits Minari writer and director Lee Isaac Chung ahead of her own outstanding talent for creating her screen character Soon-ja, who she describes as the “wise-ass grandma” of a Korean immigrant family trying to make it in rural America in the 1980s.
She said: “My script is my bible. I practise a lot for a role to memorise the lines. Some people think the line is not important but to me it’s very important.
“That line for that role is the character’s thinking and her attitude, and her everything. So if I memorise it thoroughly, I can just play it this way or that way freely.
“That’s my mission. On set, I always have my script – and my cigarette.”
She was recently spotted puffing away on what appeared to be an e-cigarette during an online chat with a reporter who she berated for noticing, saying: “Oh, you can see me? Yes, I am way over 70, so I can do whatever I want in my house.”
And she added: “I drink lots of wine. Not every day but if I want to relax after shooting, I have white wine.” Youn has retro taste in clothes, adding: “I’m very old-fashioned and buy expensive clothes that I will keep for 30 or 40 years.”
The divorced mother of two grown-up sons was already a rising star in South Korea before splitting with her husband in 1987 but says: “In order to survive and feed my two boys, I took any role going. And that’s how I have this career – because of my two sons.”
Single motherhood also toughened her up and she admits: “I can hold grudges. If somebody did something bad to me or
was rude to me, I will never forget. But if somebody is nice to me, I will also never forget. This means people think I’m a very dangerous woman who never forgets.”
Her rivals for tonight’s best supporting actress crown are American stars Glenn Close and Amanda Seyfried, British icon Olivia Colman and Bulgarian newcomer Maria Bakalova.
Meanwhile, with Minari one of eight films nominated for best picture, Youn’s co-star Steven Yeun figures in tonight’s most intriguing showdown – the battle for best actor.
As well as Yeun, the category features Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Riz Ahmed and Chadwick Boseman.
Other British stars bidding for gold include Carey Mulligan and Sacha Baron Cohen.