How Nope’s Steven Yeun examined the story of the child actors in the filming of Jordan Peele’s horror film

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Jordan Peele. No. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, continue at your own risk!

Ricky ‘Skirt’ Park, the character played by Steven Yeun in Jordan Peele No, he’s a guy with … problems. He’s a successful showman and runs what appears to be a lucrative business in the tourist trap of Jupiter’s Claim (now a bona fide attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood), but he’s also a guy with a traumatic career-involving past. of child actor. and a violent attack of animals on the set. Outwardly, he’s a man who always seems to have a smile on his face, but he has a deep inner complexity, and it’s something the actor loved to dig into, both in collaboration with the film’s writer / director and through an independent investigation.

I interviewed Steven Yeun earlier this month at the Los Angeles press day for No, and our conversation began by immersing ourselves in the psychology of the character. He touched on the subject of trauma at a young age and how it can shape adulthood, noting that it is something we hear a lot about when it comes to “child celebrity”, but it is also something that is part of everybody’s life. day. . Yeun said,

When Ricky ‘Skirt’ Park was a child, he had major roles in several shows, but the most famous was a sitcom called Gordon’s house. The series played Jupe against a real chimpanzee and was quickly canceled when the animal co-star got a break during production and savagely attacked the adult cast and directors. Skirt seems to protect itself from events by acting like it’s part of a big pop culture moment, and even has a secret private museum with props from the set. He treats his trauma like a show, even playing it in Daniel Kaluuya’s OJ and Keke Palmer’s Emerald through the lens of an old man. Live Saturday night sketch, which fits perfectly into Jordan Peele’s great themes No.

Hollywood’s infamous treatment of child stars in general dovetails very well with what is being said about the sci-fi horror film, and Steven Yeun noted that there were documentaries on the subject that came out casually while he was researching the role. It appears that the material was part of the tapestry, so to speak, but the actor was apparently more busy with the existential questions the character presented to him:

It is a fascinating material that is sure to become more fascinating with more views and more dissections. The film, which is coming out of a great second weekend at the box office, is now in theaters around the world (you can buy tickets for your local cinema online (opens in a new tab)). read our no, end explained feature film for a dissection of the film’s fantastic UFO; Search for all the exciting genre titles coming out in the coming months with our upcoming horror movie program; and if you’re a fan of the actor, check out our Steven Yeun streaming guide.