beef-y

Watch Steven Yeun “wriggling around in a Speedo” in one of his earliest acting gigs

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Steven Yeun | Photo Credit: Getty Images

In another crowded awards season weekend, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Producers Guild, and the Independent Spirits all gave out trophies to the best of the past year in film, tightening the Oscars race as the Academy Awards fats approaches.

But amid all the glitz and glamour, snubs and surprises over the past few days, there’s one image we haven’t been able to get out of our head: Steven Yeun “wriggling around in a Speedo.”

At Saturday’s SAG Awards, the handsome star took home the gold for *deep breath* “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie” thanks to his work in Beef, Netflix‘s excellent road rage dramedy that has basically steamrolled the competition all awards season long.

Yeun beat out some stiff competition—like our beloved Matt Bomer, who gave the performance of a lifetime in Fellow Travelers—but we’ll allow it because, one, he really was incredible in Beef.

But also because he used his acceptance speech as an opportunity to remind us about one of his earliest, most revealing gigs…

“I was reminded outside about the first job that I had that got me my SAG card,” Yeun shares with the attentive audience, “and it was being in a vat of fake caramel, wriggling around in a Speedo for a Milky Way commercial. And, honestly, I felt just as hype to get that card then as I am to receive this here now.”

Now, if you’re like us—and you’re here reading this piece right now, so we have to assume you are!—you heard that speech and immediately got to sleuthing, intent on finding said commercial.

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The streaming service has always had a knack for casting especially gorgeous men.

But on the off-chance you couldn’t find it, we’re here to help. Yes, back in 2010, Yeun was a young actor, fresh to Los Angeles after a stint in Chicago where he trained a the legendary Second City improv comedy theater. A few months shy of his breakout role as Glen in The Walking Dead, he was taking work wherever he could get it, and that lead him to the aforementioned vat of fake caramel.

It’s just a brief, 15-second spot for the new Milky Way “Simply Caramel” candy bar (which did away with the signature nougat in order to make room for more caramel—sure!), and Yeun plays a competitive swimmer, donning a Speedo and silver swimcap, ready to dive in for his big race.

After the whistle blows, we cut away and hear some… suggestive plopping sounds as the swimmer hit the pool, then we get the reveal: they’re floating on top of a bunch of caramel. “Pool filled with caramel? Not as good as chocolate filled with caramel,” the ad copy reads.

Honestly, kind of a gross visual! But, sure enough, there’s Yeun (in the lane at the bottom of that screen), and he really is giving it that extra wriggle—that’s commitment right there! That’s how you know that, even 14 years ago, this guy was gonna have a big career ahead.

Look, we—like most of the internet—have been crushing on Yeun for a while now, so we’re just delighted to see the Beef star showing off his beef in this early clip, and still embracing it all these years later.

And we were far from the only ones who hit pause on the SAG Awards (it was live-streaming on Netflix, so we could!) just to find the ad spot for ourselves:

So, all in all, it was a great night for Yeun (actually, it’s been a great year—his work on Beef was also awarded by the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice). Not only did he add yet another trophy to his shelf, but now he’s got a whole new slew of fans well aware that he fills out a Speedo quite nicely.

And, on top of that, he got to hug fellow winner Pedro Pascal backstage—another image that’s been bouncing around in our heads for the past few days. The slightly buzzed The Last Of Us star joked with Tan France that he planned to make out with Kieran Culkin at the after party (we’re still waiting on that footage), so maybe they pulled Yeun into the fun, too.

Anyway, if that 15 second clip of Yeun “wriggling around in A Speedo” wasn’t enough for you, we have good news: Years back, the actor guested on Conan O’Brien’s late night show and took him to Wi Spa—a popular Korean spa in Los Angeles—for a filmed segment. As is custom in certain rooms at the spa, guests are expected to be completely nude, so both Yeun and the TV host stripped bare for the bit.

Everything is tastefully pixelated for those pesky cable TV standards, but it’s a solid (and hilarious) 10 minutes of Yeun prancing around in what is basically a digital Speedo, so what’s not to love. Enjoy!:

Related:

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“Now is no longer the time to keep it private.”

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