"Young Mazino": The straight guy in "Beef" and "The End of Us," with nine queer hints, some n*de photos, and Missoula, Montana

You have probably seen Young Mazino as Paul Cho, the intensely girl-crazy younger brother of focus character Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) in the road rage-escalation drama Beef (2023). 

Or as Jesse, one of the leaders of the community of Jackson, Wyoming in the zombie Apocalypse The Last of Us (2024-5), whose ex-girlfriend starts dating focus character Ellie.

Two intensely heterosexual characters, but at least they gave us some n*de photos. And maybe there's some gay potential in his other work or his biography.

Young is a first generation Korean-American, born in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1991.  

His family is very conservative. Dad works as a computer engineer, but has a Ph.D. in Theology, and promoted the hegemonic masculinity "boys don't cry," "be tough" stuff.  He disapproved of Young's artistic interest and  pushed him into martial arts, where he received a black belt in Taekwondo.

Queer hint #1: Dad doesn't think he's masculine enough.

His mother offered quiet, behind-the-scenes support, but otherwise his interest in the arts resulted in hostility, rejection, and hatred. 

Queer hint #2: The artistic, musical outcast kid is usually gay

 He was active in the church (he doesn't say which, but there are eight Korean churches near Silver Spring, including Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Baptist).  At age 17, he visited Korea as part of a church-based symphony. He played the violin.

After watching Daniel Dae Kim on Lost and Steven Yeun on The Walking Dead, he dreamed of becoming an actor, but the parents, community, and church disapproved. So he tried the heterosexist trajectory, college-business major-money-making job, and enrolled at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Queer Hint #3: That same trajectory was pushed at me, but it was "job-house-wife-kids." 

Young wanted to be true to himself, so in 2014 he dropped out of college and moved to New York. While studying at the Stella Adler School of Acting, he worked in corporate finance: Senior Business Intelligence Analyst at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, a French company specializing in luxury goods.  How did he get such a prestigious job with no college degree?

Queer Hint #4: He was working in beauty products

He also did some modeling and appeared in some short films, mostly playing guys who get girls. 

In 2018, the grind of corporate job, acting classes, and auditions became too much, so Young dropped it all and moved to California.

Queer hint #5: This is the standard trajectory for the Great Gay Migration.       

More after the break

   

There were too many actors with his birth name. Christopher Kim, so he chose Young (his Korean given name) and Mazino, after a character in the Korean webtoon and comic book Tower of God.  Mazino is a "tall and muscular warrior" who is "respected by every man" and "hated by every woman," although he has an unrequited crush on one. 

Queer hint #6: Attracted to muscular guys.

In California, Young got guest spots on New Amsterdam, Blue Bloods, Tommy, Prodigal Son, and Drama High.

Plus the youtube series Good Boy, playing " a streetwear designer pursuing his dreams and bucking conventions of who he should be."

Queer hint #7: Is this the same gay-themed "Good Boy" that stars Andy Bian?  

Then came Beef, Opus, and The Last of Us.

And an interview with the gay-themed Instinct magazine, where he shows his biceps and backside.

Queer hint #8: Interviewed in a gay magazine.

He has almost no social media presentce, but I read six articles and interviews, and none mention any relationships, any dating, nothing.  

Queer hint #9: Gay guys often keep their relationships secret, especially if their parents belong to homophobic Evangelical churches.  Straight guys take out full-page ads to brag about them.

Wait -- no d*ck shots?  That's not a queer hint.  Gay guys are usually happy to show off their stuff.

Young's five favorite cities are St. John [U.S. Virgin Islands], Manhattan, Madrid, Missoula and Busan [South Korea].

Missoula?

Missoula, Montana?

It has a LGBTQ Community Center, with activities like the First Friday Market, Queer Cafe, Queers and Beers, Bear Necessities, and Spring Hike.  

But still, Montana?

See also: Jasper Keen: From the high desert to the Big Island to a BFA, with some gay and guy-hugging roles and a h*ng bro.  Also appeared in Opus

Andy Bian: Taiwanese actor, singer, and Good Boy stars in a gay tv series and an adult video

Ryan Masson: Gay actor with one gay role and then "girls! girls! girls!" all the way down. With his d*ck and a bonus Zack Robidas.  Also appeared in The Last of Us

Peder Lindell: Gay skater from Montana, gay Catholic guy, magician, zombie, and pilot, with possible Peder penis