At a press conference for "The Wedding Banquet" at the 30th Busan International Film Festival on Sept. 19, held at BIFF Hill at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae, Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung said she hopes attitudes in Korea toward the LGBTQ community continue to move forward.
Asked about being cast as Ja-young, grandmother to lead character Min (played by Han Gi-chan), Youn explained, “When director Andrew Ahn first approached me, it was for Min’s mother. But Han is in his 20s, so I suggested playing the grandmother instead.”
Youn, who has delivered unforgettable matriarchs in "Minari" and Apple TV+’s "Pachinko," brushed off the idea that her latest role is a “typical grandma.” “That’s not for me to decide,” she said. “The more I read a script, the more I understand a character’s nature. I simply perform her the way I believe she would be.”
When a foreign reporter asked how Korea is receiving a film that urges understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ lives, Youn began, “I hope so.”
Youn has previously shared in overseas interviews that her eldest son is gay and married to his partner in the United States.
"The Wedding Banquet" is a wildly unpredictable comedy about a razor-sharp Korean grandmother who crashes a sham wedding hatched by two same-sex couples. The film is a contemporary reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 Golden Bear winner of the same name, with Korean American filmmaker Andrew Ahn preserving the original’s heart while updating it for today and weaving in Korean cultural texture.
Premiering at BIFF, "The Wedding Banquet" opens in Korea on Sept. 24.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)