Young Mazino Wants to Test Hollywood’s Limits—and His Own
Shirt, Hermès.
After breaking out in Netflix’s Beef, Young Mazino says his next role is a nice departure from the lovable himbo Paul Cho. Perhaps going from playing a catfished crypto bro to a zombie-fighting hero in The Last of Us is a little unexpected, but that’s exactly what Mazino wants: to defy expectations and not be put in a box.
“I know as an Asian American actor, there’s only so much opportunity,” says Mazino, who was raised in Maryland by Korean immigrant parents. “Not to say that there’s a glass ceiling, but I am definitely limit-testing, and I don’t want to settle for whatever Hollywood perceives me as right now.”
Mazino was born Christopher Young Kim, but when he joined the Screen Actors Guild a few years ago, he realized many others shared his name. So he chose a stage name instead, combining his middle name, Young, and Urek Mazino, a beloved Korean webtoon character. Earlier in his career, while taking acting classes in New York, he landed small roles on shows like New Amsterdam and Blue Bloods, with the kinds of parts IMDb lists as “Bilingual Intern #4” and “Armed Guard #2”.
“I don’t want to settle for whatever Hollywood perceives me as right now.”
Then, Beef happened. With it came his first-ever Emmy nomination, hordes of thirsty fans, and even more opportunities (SZA even cast him in a music video). Many of the roles that came his way were similar to Paul, but Jesse from The Last of Us was something different.
In season 2 of the wildly popular HBO series, Jesse is introduced as a dependable local leader in Jackson, Wyoming, where Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) reside with fellow survivors. He has an “older brother dynamic” with Ellie, and a complicated former on/off romance with her love interest, Dina (Isabela Merced); but after a tragic twist, he becomes one of Ellie’s closest allies.
Young Mazino as Jesse inThe Last of Us.
Mazino didn’t audition for the role, but rather had an hour-long discussion with showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. To prepare, he played The Last of Us Part II, the game on which the new season is based, but Mazin actually advised against it. “I remember Craig was like, ‘I kind of wish you didn’t play the game,’” Mazino says. “He wanted more of an original take on this character, but with the backbone of who Jesse is, which is a pillar of this community.”
Mazino didn’t have to look far to find inspiration. In the script, Jesse came across as selfless and sacrificial. Mazino knew someone like that: his father, who had come to the U.S. when he was 16, became a computer engineer and a church deacon, and worked hard to support his wife and three children. “My dad has a deep sense of community, and he’s so reliable—he’s just a rock,” Mazino says. “Jesse embodies that.”
“I’m just trying to pursue my own happiness.”
To get ready for the action-heavy role, Mazino worked with the stunt team, trained at a firing range, and learned to ride a horse. During the long days on set in Vancouver, he leaned on Ramsey for guidance. “Sometimes you’re spending hours in wet clothes, and it’s good to have someone like Bella because they always have this positive atmosphere around them, and I definitely gleaned a lot from that,” he says.
While the cast and crew didn’t set out to re-create every shot of the video game, some scenes and “very pivotal moments” match the source material “frame by frame,” Mazino says. He previews one scene in the finale that’s “very close to the game” and “cinematic.” But no, he won’t reveal what it is. “I can’t talk about this, but the ending, I think, will floor the audience. It’ll be sick.”
Looking ahead, Mazino wants to keep challenging himself. “I would love to really bite into a character who requires substantial work, and find a filmmaker who would essentially trust me with that kind of role,” he says. “I’m just trying to pursue my own happiness.” Some dream collaborators include Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Denis Villeneuve (perhaps even a live-action anime adaptation, he suggests). Whatever it is Mazino does next, it will surely defy expectations.
Hair by Sami Knight for Rehab; makeup by Alexandra French at Forward Artists; manicure by Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group; produced by Anthony Federici at Petty Cash Production; photographed at Malibu Creek Ranch.
A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE.
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