Steven Yeun becomes 1st ever Asian-American actor nominated for best actor in Oscars history

• Steven Yeun has become the first Asian-American actor nominated for the best actor Oscar.
• Yeun was nominated for "Minari," a film centered on a Korean American family in Arkansas.
• The actor previously said it'd be a "bummer" to earn the honor.

Steven Yeun has just become the first-ever Asian-American actor to receive an Oscar nomination for best actor in history.

On Monday when couple Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas announced the 2021 nominees, Yeun was nominated for "Minari," Lee Isaac Chung's American dream drama following a South Korean family trying to make a success of their farm in 1980s Arkansas.

No Asian-American actor has ever been nominated for this specific category, but Yeun is one of two Asian actors nominated for best actor this year. He is joined by British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed, who earned his nomination for "Sound of Metal."

This is the first time two actors of East and South Asian descent have been nominated in this category in the same year. The pair also become the fourth and fifth men of East or South Asian descent to be nominated for the best actor Oscar in the entirety of the Academy Awards' history.

Previously, Yul Brynner was nominated in 1956 for "The King and I," Topol was nominated in 1971 for "Fiddler on the Roof," and Sir Ben Kingsley was nominated for two films - in 1982 for "Gandhi" and in 2003 for "House of Sang and Fog."

Only two Asian American actors have ever won Oscars - Miyoshi Umeki (for "Sayonara" in 1958) and Haing S. Ngor (for "The Killing Fields" in 1985) - in supporting actress and supporting actor, respectively.

In an interview with Variety, Yeun said that it would be a "bummer" that he'd be the first Asian-American actor nominated for best actor, let alone to win the award.

"As great as it would be to set a precedent or be part of a moment that breaks through a ceiling, I personally don't want to be ensnared by that moment, either. The truth that I'm trying to understand for myself is who I am, individually," Yeun said last December.

Yeun's performance has been praised as one of his very best, and "Minari" itself is having a great awards season despite some controversy from the Golden Globes about where to classify the picture.

"Minari" picked up six Oscar nominations in total, including nods for best picture, best director for Lee Isaac Chung, and best supporting actress for Yuh-Jung Youn.