Young Mazino is gearing up for his The Last of Us role, which is sure to make him a household name.
The actor, who previously appeared as Paul Cho in season 1 of Netflix’s Beef, will be taking on the role of Jesse in the second season of HBO’s hit series.
“I never judged my character, but he’s a bit of a Boy Scout,” Mazino told Vanity Fair in March 2025. “He definitely tapped into the brighter, warmer side of myself because I think I’m by default a little darker than him spiritually.”
While he’s had a few major roles under his belt, the actor is still navigating this bout of fame.
“I’m still perplexed by everything,” he shared in the same interview. “I don’t know where this world is headed, but it seems to get more and more surreal.”
The Last of Us follows a group of survivors after a pandemic wipes out most of humanity, but it’s not a virus that causes the catastrophe — it’s a fungus. The culprit is cordyceps, a real fungus that has evolved in the show to infect humans, who become zombie-like after exposure. While minor characters come […]
Keep scrolling for everything to know about Mazino:
1. He’s a Maryland Native
Mazino’s parents, Korean immigrants, raised him in Silver Spring, Maryland. He stayed in the state for college, initially attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, before moving to New York City to attend the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
Young Mazino and Bella Ramsey in ‘The Last of Us’ Liane Hentscher/HBO
2. Young Mazino Is His Stage Name
The actor was born Christopher Young Kim, as listed in some of his early acting credits. The reason for a stage name? When he initially registered with SAG-AFTRA, Mazino discovered that there were multiple actors with the name Christopher Kim. Young is his Korean name and Mazino comes from Urek Mazino, a character in the animated series Tower of God.
3. He Wasn’t Always an Actor
During the early days of Mazino’s acting career, which started in 2013 with one-off roles in various movies and TV shows, he was also working a corporate job.
“I was terrified that I would lose my job if they found out I was running to auditions during lunch, or leaving a little early, or using my vacation days at random to shoot short films,” he shared in a past interview with GOAT.
4. He Was Nominated for an Emmy
After Beef premiered in April 2023, Mazino was dubbed a breakout star. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category that year. (Mazino lost to Paul Walter Hauser for Black Bird.)
5. He’s a Huge Anime Fan
Mazino revealed that he has a “big heart” for both manga and anime in a 2023 interview with Timid Mag.
“I think that live-action anime spaces have a tremendous potential to create some really, really cool stuff,” he said.