--- description: Find out why Bowen Yang is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Bowen Yang: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda16e32cc154dad/698a1ca9b3fce324210c8482/bowen-yang-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Bowen Yang by Sandra Oh  Katie McCurdy In 2018, someone sent me a clip of [Bowen Yang](https://time.com/collection/time-100-next-2019/5718779/bowen-yang/ "undefined") lip-synching to my _Grey’s Anatomy_ character, Cristina Yang. I was like, “Oh my god—look at this kid. He’s way better at this monologue than me.” His Miranda Priestly is utter genius. Since then, I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved seeing him flourish on [_Saturday Night Live_](https://time.com/5676074/snl-season-45-cast/ "undefined"). I remember vibrating with excitement as I watched his skits such as “The Iceberg That Sank the Titanic” or his “Trade Daddy” character—a parody of a snarky (and fictional) Chinese government official—over and over again. He was firing on so many levels: his performance was lasering down belief systems, accents, trade, how we’re seen, so boldly. I wanted to write an essay on it. As an Asian American performer on such a high-profile show, he’s taken on a stewardship role. But there should be no pressure for him to do anything more than just be himself: quick-witted, hilarious and absurd, with an elegant heart. We’re only really starting to see his potential as a performer and as a writer—he has so much to offer. I am so proud to see him finding his way on his own terms. I hope he has whatever he needs to come to full fruition, because he’s mega. I am fully prepared to be his aunt. He can text me anytime. [Oh](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567697/sandra-oh/ "undefined") is an Emmy-nominated actor ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/"},"headline":"Bowen Yang","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:19:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:32.202Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Artists"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda16e32cc154dad/698a1ca9b3fce324210c8482/bowen-yang-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdda16e32cc154dad/698a1ca9b3fce324210c8482/bowen-yang-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/","name":"Bowen Yang"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | Bowen Yang and Nikole Hannah-Jones","description":"Bowen Yang and Nikole Hannah-Jones are on the 2021 TIME100 list.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rjHOxLLV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-09-15T10:45:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rjHOxLLV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/","duration":"PT24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095921/bowen-yang-artist/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```