South Korean performer Youn Yuh-jung has won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Minari at the 93rd Academy Awards, which are taking place in Los Angeles.

In Minari, Youn plays Soon-ja, “grandma” to young David, who comes from Korea to stay with the family on their farm in Arkansas. She brings with her the “minari” seeds that gives the film its title.

Youn defeated a strong field including Glenn Close (for Hillbilly Elegy), Olivia Colman (The Father) and Amanda Seyfried (Mank) but she was considered the favourite to win after taking the Screen Actors Guild and Bafta best supporting actress awards. At the latter ceremony Youn memorably thanked “very snobbish” British voters for her prize.

Youn was on relatively restrained form at the Oscars, after kicking off by “forgiving” everyone for pronouncing her name incorrectly. She thanked the Academy fulsomely and praising the Minari “family”, particularly the film’s director Lee Isaac Chung. However, she did explain that she “usually just watches the Oscar on television”. “Me being here myself I cannot believe. Let me pull myself together.”

She finished her speech by saying she didn’t believe in competition – “How can I win over Glenn Close?” – and said thank you to her “two boys who make me go out and work”. She added: “This is the result because mummy worked so hard!”