“The Walking Dead” star Steven Yeun appeared on TBS’s “Conan” Tuesday night with a mission. The actor, who portrays Glenn on the popular AMC show, wanted to make it clear once and for all that, referring to Asian people, “We don’t all look the same.”
He said that, when confronted by fans who recognize him, he doesn’t want to lie about it, because he doesn’t want to perpetuate the sterotype that all Asians look alike.
“The one Asian guy you recognize is the Asian guy that you thought it was gonna be,” he wants to tell them.
But it’s a problem he sees as he hears from Asian fans who report that they’re routinely mistaken for him. One example he recounted to O’Brien was of a young man who bore no resemblance to him.
“People will come up and [say], I get mistaken for you all the time, and I’m like, you’re 55 years old,” Yeun said. “Or you’re like a 12-year-old girl. What are you talking about?
“Once and for all, we don’t all look alike. That’s what I’m here to tell you,” Yeun said emphatically. “This is my mission.”
He then proceeded to muddle the message by revealing that he scours Reddit and finds people who do look alike, though he crosses racial lines to do it. He found a black Matt Damon and an Asian Brad Pitt.
“So if all Asians look alike, then Brad Pitt‘s Asian,” Yeun concluded. “And I’ll take that.”
Watch Steven Yeun advance his mission on “Conan” here.
“The Walking Dead” midseason premiere airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. “Conan” airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET on TBS.