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Jean Yoon (born May 4, 1962) is an American-born Canadian actress and writer of Korean descent. Yoon is best known for originating the role of family matriarch Umma in the 2011 play ''
Kim's Convenience ''Kim's Convenience'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "App ...
'' and in the award-winning
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
series adapted from the play, for which she won an
ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.
and received two
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
nominations.


Early life

Yoon was born in
Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
to parents of
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
descent in 1962 and subsequently raised in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, where she currently resides and works.


Career


1980s–1990s: Early career in theatre

Yoon started her career in theatre as an actress in the early 1980s, but soon quit in frustration after she struggled to find work and went on to complete her degree at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
(BA Innis 1989). A decade later, in 1995, she returned to acting and started her own group called Loud Mouth Asian Babes, through which she has written and produced plays that focus on the
Korean diaspora The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...
, mostly in Canada.


2000s: Transition into television and film

Yoon's acting career began to flourish in the early 2000s, with small roles in several television series, including '' La Femme Nikita'' (1996–2001), ''
Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers ...
'' (
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
, 2000–2002) and '' Street Time'' (
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, 2001–2003). In 2006, Yoon achieved wider recognition after playing flight attendant
Betty Ong Betty Ann Ong (; February 5, 1956 – September 11, 2001) was an American flight attendant aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first airplane hijacked during the September 11 attacks. Ong was the first person to alert authorities to the hi ...
in the controversial mini-series ''
The Path to 9/11 ''The Path to 9/11'' is a two-part miniseries that aired in the United States on ABC television on September 10–11, 2006 and in other countries. The film dramatizes the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City and the events lead ...
''. Also in 2006, Yoon had a recurring role as June Kim in the
legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...
series '' This Is Wonderland''. In 2007, Yoon received a
Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...
nomination for her work in the CBC mini-series ''
Dragon Boys ''Dragon Boys'' () is a CBC Television (CBC) miniseries starring Eric Tsang, Byron Mann, Lawrence Chou, Tzi Ma, Lauren Lee Smith, Steph Song, Darryl Quon, Christina Ma, Jean Yoon, Simon Wong and Chang Tseng. It aired on CBC on January 7 and 8 of ...
.'' In 2009, she portrayed Dr. Montague in the hit
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film '' The Time Traveller's Wife'', based on the novel of the same name.


2010s–present: Further success in television

Throughout the 2010s, Yoon has played a wide array of characters in several television programs, most notably Imena Khumalo in the
medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...
series '' Remedy'' (2014–2015), Connie in the animated series '' Peg+Cat'' (2013–2016), Captain Theresa Yao in the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
series ''
The Expanse Expanse or The Expanse may refer to: Media and entertainment ''The Expanse'' franchise * ''The Expanse'' (novel series), a series of science fiction novels by James S. A. Corey * ''The Expanse'' (TV series), a television adaptation of the ...
'' (2015), and Janis Beckwith in the hit
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
-
Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
series ''
Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identical ...
''.


''Kim's Convenience''

From 2016 to 2021, Yoon has portrayed Kim Yong-mi ("Umma"), the
matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...
of the Kim family, in the CBC sitcom ''
Kim's Convenience ''Kim's Convenience'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "App ...
''. She also portrayed the same role in the 2011 play, which she originated and performed over 240 times in six cities. For her role in the television series, she has received considerable attention and has publicly discussed the importance of diversity in mainstream media, specifically for
Asian Canadians Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their Ancestor, ancestry to Asia, the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, wi ...
and immigrants. In an interview with the CBC, Yoon said:
The generational conflict between first generation and second generation immigrants, it's rich territory, and if you've lived through it, I mean, it's laugh and cry, laugh and cry, laugh and cry. But we haven't seen those stories on television on a national level. We are starting to see those stories coming out in novels and in theatre ... We are starting to see an awareness that this is territory that hasn't been explored. There's comedy there, there's talent there, and there's a sudden pop of interest. But also it's a question of critical mass.
For her role on ''Kim's Convenience'', Yoon won an
ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.
, and was a five-time
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
nominee for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, winning at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022. Yoon played the role for the show's entire five-season run.


Other work

Yoon is also a writer and playwright. She has written severals plays, poems, and essays, including ''The Yoko Ono Project'', a multi-media performance art comedy about Ono, her art, and her impact, which earned a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination and a Jessie Richardson Award. In December 2022, Yoon and retired South Korean competitive
figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
Yuna Kim Yuna Kim (; born September 5, 1990), also credited in eastern name order as Kim Yuna or Kim Yeon-a, is a retired South Korean competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic champion and 2014 Olympic silver medalist in ladies' singles, ...
were made as honorary ambassadors on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Canada and South Korea in 2023.


Filmography


Film


Television


Personal life

Yoon has a son; in a 2017 interview with '' NOW Magazine'', she described herself as a "mom who acts."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoon, Jean 1962 births Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian women writers Actresses from Illinois Actresses from Toronto Canadian actresses of Korean descent Canadian film actresses Canadian Film Centre alumni Canadian people of Korean descent Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian women poets Canadian writers of Asian descent People from Champaign, Illinois University of Toronto alumni Writers from Illinois Writers from Toronto 21st-century American women Best Actress in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners