Nope Movie Star Steven Yeun Keeps in Touch With The Walking Dead Cast

Nearly six years after his character’s death on The Walking Dead, actor Steven Yeun hasn’t lost touch with his former co-stars. For the first six seasons of the AMC horror drama about to air its final episodes, Yeun played fan-favorite zombie apocalypse survivor Glenn Rhee, exiting with his character’s death in the controversial Season 7 premiere. Yeun’s post-Walking Dead career earned him critical acclaim for roles in such films as Burning and Minari, which made the 38-year-old the first Asian American actor to be nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. On July 22, Yeun appears opposite Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror Nope, playing the role of former child star turned Western-themed park owner Ricky “Jupe” Park. 

Sitting down with ComicBook.com‘s Chris Killian, Yeun addressed viewers who tuned out of The Walking Dead after Glenn’s gory death to start Season 7.

“I never know how to respond to that,” Yeun said with a laugh. “Those are my friends!” 

Asked which of his Walking Dead co-stars were the first to reach out when it was announced Yeun had joined the cast of Peele’s anticipated follow-up to horror hits Get Out and Us, Yeun said, “We kind of all just talk on the regular. So there’s not like, ‘Hey, congratulations.’ It’s like, ‘Yo, what’s up?’” 

“I speak with Norman [Reedus] a lot, Jon [Bernthal], Alanna [Masterson],” Yeun said, calling his former Walking Dead cast mates “really good friends.” 

Watch the full video interview in the player above. 

Along with Reedus and Bernthal, Yeun was part of an original main cast that included Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Chandler Riggs for the first season of The Walking Dead. (Of the original cast still on the series, only Reedus’ Daryl and Melissa McBride’s Carol appeared across all eleven seasons.) 

In 2019, Yeun reunited with Reedus on Ride With Norman Reedus, the actor’s unscripted motorcycle travelogue series on AMC. Many of Yeun’s former Walking Dead co-stars, including Lauren Cohan and Michael Cudlitz, have since joined the voice cast of Invincible, the Amazon adult animated series starring Yeun as the Image Comics superhero. 

Nope opens in theaters Friday, July 22. Season 11 of The Walking Dead returns with its final eight episodes this October on AMC. 

Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long.