Steven Yeun compares ‘Voltron: Legendary Defender’ to ‘The Walking Dead’
Spoiler alert! Don’t read this interview unless you’ve already binged your way through the second season of Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Voltron: Legendary Defender season 2 has featured plenty of big character revelations — including that Keith is actually part Galra. But before the Red Lion’s Paladin could really work through what this means for him, the team was once again forced into a big confrontation that saw Zarkon defeated and Shiro missing once again.
With so much happening this season, and Keith possibly being called upon to be the team’s new leader, EW caught up with Steven Yeun, the actor who voices Keith, to talk Galran anger, teenage angst, and how Voltron is actually quite similar to The Walking Dead.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you had a chance to watch this season yet?STEVEN YEUN: I haven’t. When I watch footage of stuff that we’re about to show and have shown, it’s looking great. I’m so jealous that kids get to have this now. It’s really good and sophisticated to a point where I think it is cultivating a great taste for the kids. It doesn’t talk down to anybody. I like that version of television.
This season we find out that Keith is part Galra. When did you first learn about this?I learned about it a long time ago.
Were you surprised to discover that he was Galra, or had you seen the signs?There was always an underlying part of Keith that the audience couldn’t quite put a finger on — his angst, his cloudy past, the way he approaches people. It is very indicative of maybe something like that. I don’t know if I as a viewer was straight off the bat going, “Oh, that’s what’s going to happen.” But it is what happened. So it explains it a little bit.
He does have a lot of anger in him. Do you feel like learning about this part of his history has calmed down that part of him somewhat?There are moments. For him, he’s going through so many things. He’s going through growing up and being called upon as a leader. He’s going through this realization, and it’s probably something he can’t explain himself. I’m sure there’s a feeling that you have when you’re part Galra. Also, he doesn’t have a full vision of his past either. For someone going through so much trauma in that way, he’s pretty well-adjusted.
You mention him having to become a leader. Shiro does tell him he wants him to take over as leader and in the end, it seems like he might just have to. What do you think was going through his mind when he learned that?It was a mixture of a ton of emotions. I actually think that he was in more or less ways called upon to be a leader from the beginning. That’s not to say the leader of Voltron, but to say that Shiro always took him under his wing. Keith always hoped that he could reach a place where Shiro was and hopefully more. I think Shiro saw that in him and tried to stoke those flames and cultivate that within him. There’s a nice history that he and Shiro have where if Shiro were to ask him to do that, he would understand where it was coming from. But there is self-doubt, that nagging position of what he is and what he is a part of. Maybe there is shame involved. I don’t know. I’m sure he’s thinking a bazillion things.
Now that he really knows that his family is Galran, do you think that he is going to pursue that? Or is he more focused on the immediate future of Voltron?I think he’s torn. That’s what’s going to be interesting moving forward, is what he’s willing to do for the team and what he’s willing to do for himself. That might be something that we get to learn and see as we go.
When the rest of the team finds out he’s part Galran, it kind of sours his relationship with Allura for a bit, but they are able to work through it. Talk me through that.I like playing this mystery of where the romance is. I don’t know where it is. It could be between anybody. That’s the natural evolution of this relationship. Even as a friendship, it has fits and turns and ups and downs. I think this is the beginning of a wonderful, wonderful storyline.
What’s harder for you to keep secrets about: Voltron season 2 or Walking Dead stuff?I’m pretty good about keeping secrets. Maybe too good. you know what’s cool? This journey on this show is not the same as it was on Walking Dead. That was a living, breathing situation where we were working, shooting, and living it. We were in it. Voltron just calls us to come in every so often and record a bunch of lines and make this group effort happen. But I will say that the parallel that is there is really great. The Voltron cast is really supportive of each other.
Andrea Romano is wonderful. Tim , Lauren , and Joaquim are really great people to work for. It kind of mimics that feel and I really enjoy it. I thought I never may get it again, but that is a really cool thing, to be able to walk into a production and it’s supported and people are supportive of each other. It shows. That’s the cool part. The thing that I’ve learned over time is that when things are good behind the scenes, and things are supported artistically, it shows in the work. It showed for us in The Walking Dead and it shows the same in Voltron.
Voltron: Legendary Defender season 2 is currently available to stream on Netflix. For more answers about the season, check out the longer season postmortem here.
