‘Minari’ Star Youn Yuh-jung ‘Finally’ Meets Brad Pitt On Stage at the Oscars
Youn Yuh-jung, who was predicted to sweep the Best Supporting Actress awards this awards season, walked away with her first-ever golden statue at the 2021 Academy Awards Sunday night (April 25). But what we didn't expect was the little meet-cute moment she had with Brad Pitt, who presented the category.
"Mr. Brad Pitt, finally. Nice to meet you," she said after she took the mic. "Where were you while we were filming?"
She then took a moment to compose herself and continued, "It's an honor to meet you."
Although may have seemed like a serendipitous—and even playfully flirty—moment, Youn's film, Minari was actually backed by Pitt's production company, Plan B, along with MGM. Pitt is cited as one of the film's executive producers.
But the memorable moments didn't stop there. The actress made sure to correct the crowd on how to actually pronounce her name, as well as pay homage to her Minari family, especially the movie's director.
"And most of all, above all, Lee Isaac Chung, without him, I could not be here tonight. He was our captain and my director," she gushed.
Unexpectedly, Youn also brought Glenn Close, who was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress and was sitting in the crowd, into her speech. "See, I don't believe in competition," she said. "How can I win over Glenn Close? I have been watching her [in] so many performances. All the nominees, five nominees, we are the winner[s] for different movies... So we can't compete [with] each other."
As Youn continued her heartfelt speech, a close-up showed fellow 2021 nominee Amanda Seyfried mouthing, "I love her."
Naturally, viewers loved everything about Youn and her speech.
Watch Youn's full Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech below.