A match made outside of Hollywood. Steven Yeun is famous for his roles in The Walking Dead and Minari, but the actor met his wife, Joana Pak, before he became a household name.
The Oscar nominee and the photographer first connected in 2009 while Yeun was working as a bartender in Chicago. Pak was in the city studying at Columbia College, while the Nope actor was performing with The Second City improv theater.
“She walked into the bar where I was a really s–tty bartender, and it was kismet,” Yeun recalled in a March 2017 interview with Martha Stewart Weddings. “After that, I saw her every day for six months.”
A potential setback arrived right away, however: Yeun was cast as Glenn Rhee on The Walking Dead, which primarily filmed in Atlanta. “We were kind of everywhere,” Pak explained in the same interview, reflecting on the duo’s long-distance romance.
Some couples crumble under that kind of pressure, but Yeun and Pak’s relationship held strong. The Sorry to Bother You star proposed to his longtime love in August 2015. Nearly a year and a half later, they tied the knot in Los Angeles in front of family, friends and some of Yeun’s Walking Dead castmates, including Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride and Sarah Wayne Callies.
“Getting to celebrate the love between these two, last night, along with all their friends and family was so beautiful and special!!” Pak’s sister-in-law Kayce wrote via Instagram at the time. “This whole week has been an awesome, family-filled, fun time and it’s been so great!”
Three months after their wedding, the couple welcomed son Jude, who arrived on St. Patrick’s Day 2017. “We are well,” Yeun wrote via Instagram in March alongside a sweet snap of the little one’s tiny hand. “Much much love.” In April 2019, the pair welcomed a daughter whose name hasn’t been publicly revealed.
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The twosome have since kept their relationship relatively private, though Pak often accompanies Yeun on red carpets — and occasionally helps him prep for his roles. “Minari is essentially the story of my wife’s family,” the Okja star told W magazine in February 2021. “My wife is Korean but grew up in Arkansas, and her family first made their money by chicken sexing. They gave me some tips on how to work with the chicks.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Yeun and Pak’s relationship timeline.
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