Young Mazino

Young Mazino
Born
Christopher Young Kim

(1991-08-27) August 27, 1991 (age 33)
Montgomery County, Maryland, U.S.
Education
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Christopher Young Kim (born August 27, 1991), better known by his stage name Young Mazino, is an American actor best known for his role as Paul Cho in the Netflix series Beef, for which he was nominated for the 2023 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Early life

Christopher Young Kim was born in Maryland. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, raised by two Korean immigrant parents.[1] He has two older sisters. His father immigrated to the United States from Korea at the age of 16.[2] Mazino has a first-degree black belt in taekwondo.[3]

He attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but dropped out and moved to New York City in 2014 to attend the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, where he trained for a year.[4]

Prior to his breakout role in Beef, Mazino was Senior Business Intelligence Analyst at LVMH's Fresh for six years.[5]

Career

Mazino chose the monicker "Young Mazino" as his stage name in 2018.[6] The name is a combination of Mazino's real middle name and the name of a comic book character, Urek Mazino from Tower of God created by Korean artist S.I.U.[6] Mazino explained that he decided to take a stage name because there were too many actors with his real surname when he was registering with the Screen Actors Guild in 2018.[6]

He played roles in several short films and television shows before being cast in a break out role as Steven Yeun's younger brother, Paul, in the hit Netflix series Beef, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.

In January 2024, it was announced that Mazino would join the cast of season 2 of the HBO series The Last of Us as Jesse.[7]

Filmography

Film and television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Digging Young Man Credited as Christopher Kim
2014 My Crazy Love Jamie Episode: "Beth and Noah"; Credited as Christopher Kim
2015 Beneath Paradise Khal Credited as Christopher Kim
2016 Blindspot Armored Guard #2 Episode: "Any Wounded Thief"; Credited as Christopher Kim
The Destined King Sanggun Credited as Christopher Kim
2017 Foundation Matt
2018 Fish Bones Peter KIm
New Amsterdam Bilingual Intern #4 Episode: "Pilot"
2019 Blue Bloods Officer Andy Chen Episode: "Behind the Smile"
2020 Tommy Jun Episode: "The Ninth Girl"
Prodigal Son Alex Wu Episode: "The Job"
2022 Good Boy Joon Kim Short
2023 Beef Paul Cho Main role; 10 episodes
Trinity's Triumph Father Kim Film
2025 The Last of Us Jesse
TBA Opus Filming

Music videos

Year Title Role Artist
2023 "Snooze" Love interest SZA

References

  1. ^ Zuckerman, Ethel (April 19, 2023). "Young Mazino Sizzles in 'BEEF'". Netflix: Tudum. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Kwon, Victoria. "Young Mazino: On embracing challenges, representation, and chasing dreams". Timid. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "Christopher Kim". Martial Arts & Action Entertainment. November 13, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  4. ^ Rebecca, Ford (April 13, 2023). "Beef Breakout Young Mazino Crafts Paul in His Own Image". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  5. ^ "Fresh Beauty Instagram". Instagram. August 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c https://www.jaehakim.com/2023/04/go-away-with-young-mazino/
  7. ^ Otterson, Joe (January 10, 2024). "'Last of Us' Season 2 Casts 'Beef' Star Young Mazino as Jesse". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.