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 But the 73-year-old said she
never expected to be the first South Korean
nominated at the Academy Awards for best
supporting actress, for her role in "Minari" as
a spirited grandmother who travels from South
Korea to the United States to care for her
grandchildren.
"I don't know how to describe (it). I never even
dreamed about being nominated for an Oscar," a
stunned Youn said in an interview with media on
Monday.
Youn said she was in South Korea's mandatory
two-week coronavirus quarantine, after a job in
Canada, when she heard the news from a friend,
who broke out in tears after telling her of the
nomination.
"She cried, I didn't cry," said Youn with a
chuckle. "I was just lying on my couch and I was
half asleep."
Youn shared the historic first with "Minari"
co-star Steven Yeun, the first Asian-American to
be nominated for a best actor Oscar. Born in
Seoul, Yuen and his family moved to Canada and
then the United States when he was a child.
Since her acting debut in 1966, Youn has been a
sensation on Korean screens for playing witty,
thought-provoking characters, including a senior
prostitute in 2016's "The Bacchus Lady".
Youn has already won 32 awards for her role in "Minari,"
a tender, quintessential American story about a
Korean immigrant family in the 1980s trying to
better themselves by starting a farm in
Arkansas.
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 "Minari" is intensely personal
for director Lee Isaac Chung, based partly on
his own life growing up in Arkansas. The film is
nominated for six Academy Awards, and has
already garnered others, including this year's
best foreign-language film at the Golden Globes.
"Minari makes history. Congratulations to Isaac,
Steven, YJ, Emile and the whole Minari family on
their 6 wonderful, wonderful #OscarNoms," the "Minari"
production crew said on Twitter.
The movie insightfully uses minari, a leafy
green with interconnected roots that takes at
least a year to grow, as a metaphor for the
immigrant experience, said pop culture critic
Kim Hern-sik, who praised Youn's rare portrayal
of a unconventional Korean grandmother.
"The public sympathises with the sincerity of
her performance," said Kim. "She acts as if she
owns the story and is this senior character full
of wisdom from her life experience."
(Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Editing by Karishma
Singh)
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