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Actor Youn Yuh-jung reveals son is gay as she discusses personal connection to 'The Wedding Banquet'

Published: 20 Apr. 2025, 16:22

YOON SO-YEON
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Actor Youn Yuh-jung attends the premiere of the film ″The Wedding Banquet″ in Los Angeles on April 14. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Actor Youn Yuh-jung revealed that her son is gay during interviews with overseas outlets as she explained how her participation in the recently released film "The Wedding Banquet" hit her on a personal level.

"My personal life story is very involved with this movie," Yoon said as quoted by People in a report published on Friday.

"Korea is a very conservative country. People never come out as gay, publicly or in front of their parents. But my first son happened to be [a] gay person, so I shared my experience between him and me and in the movie with my grandchild and me."

Youn's son came out as gay in 2000, according to her interview with the South China Morning Post published earlier this week.

"When New York legalized gay marriage, I threw a wedding for him there," Youn said. "The whole family came to New York because it was still secret in Korea."

″The Wedding Banquet″ poster [BLEEKER STREET]

A scene from ″The Wedding Banquet″ [BLEEKER STREET]

"I still don’t know what the reaction would be back home. Maybe they will throw the book at me," she added.

This was the first time that Youn publicly talked about her son's sexuality in her interview with the press.

Youn stars in "The Wedding Banquet," an American rom-com directed by Andrew Ahn as a remake of the 1993 film of the same title directed by Taiwanese director Ang Lee, as the grandmother of a homosexual Korean man who is trying to get married to cover his secret.

Youn, a veteran star who debuted in 1966, was the first Korean actor to win an Academy Award in 2021. She took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2020 film “Minari.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]