MIAMI-RAISED ACTRESS, WRITER AND SOCIAL MEDIA STAR STEFANIE YUNGER SHARES HER COMEDIC INSPIRATION AND CAREER GOALS FOR THE FUTURE.

Stefanie Yunger has captivated social media with her quick wit and humor. PHOTO BY SLAVA ROZHKO

Several adjectives come to mind when trying to describe the comedic actor Stefanie Yunger (@stefachka): vivacious, effervescent, funny and motivated. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career in late 2018, Yunger knew she needed to get her feet wet. Through student films, commercials, The Groundlings improv troupe and auditions, she quickly started to get noticed in the L.A. acting scene. While many know her from her comedic skits on TikTok, her talent and influence were directly inspired by the pandemic, which caused everything to stop.

“Social media is a free tool that allows anybody to express anything. So if you’re an actor, if you’re a writer, if you’re a painter, it’s this amazing tool that connects you to the world,” Yunger notes. “I figured to start utilizing it for my writing and acting and for putting my content out there. The community that I have since built and continue to build is really special.”

In the past year since creating her comedic sketches, Yunger has seen her social media platforms grow to nearly 1 million followers combined. While her videos have been shared by household names, she feels the true joy is whenever someone genuinely enjoys and laughs at her work.

“I feel happy anytime my work gets shared. The fact that I can resonate with people at all is a win for me,” she shares. “There have been some famous people who have shared, and that’s amazing, but I really feel the same way when anyone shares my work. I feel blessed to be able to connect with people in this way.”

For the last year, Yunger has consistently created original content. And while her videos have garnered her a mass social media following, her goal was to stretch her creativity, not expecting the virality that she’s now experiencing.

Her first video, “a woman who needs you to know she just got married,” was inspired by her own experience with marriage.

PHOTO BY: OFER YAKOV

“This is the woman who peppers in the word ‘husband’ everywhere she goes,” she says. “I made it right after I got married because it felt so weird using the word husband in the beginning. And I thought to myself, ‘There must be a lot of people that feel the same way.’”

A woman of the world, Yunger speaks four different languages—English, Spanish, Hebrew and Russian—which she incorporates into her different characters. When asked where she finds her inspiration, she answers, “Everywhere!”

“If I were to whittle down my creative process, it would start with being inspired by something I see. I’ll either record it or write it down immediately on my phone or in a notebook,” she says. “Then, once I have it written down, I’ll revisit the idea and refine it out loud to myself. I’ll try things until it feels right, until it feels funny and until it feels good.”

As you can likely tell, Yunger is a woman with grand ambitions combined with an incredible drive. Motivated by work, she has a long list of projects she is determined to accomplish.

PHOTO BY: ISAAC ALVAREZ

“Comedy is the love of my life. I love laughing, and I love making people laugh. I love the timing of comedy, the nuances and the details. I’m excited to create more traditional, longer-form content and explore other stories. I definitely know in the future there will be dramatic projects because that’s also part of life,” Yunger notes. “I’ve always been attracted to both darker materials like Fleabag and very extroverted comedies, my favorite being The Birdcage. I’m very inspired by creators and multifaceted talents.”

Raised in Miami with Ukrainian roots, Yunger shares how lucky she is to have grown up in a place as vibrant and diverse as the city.

“Miami is such a melting pot. I grew up here, so you take that for granted when you go to other places,” she says. “I grew up surrounded by so many different cultures, and that really shaped me. Growing up here is so amazing because it opens your mind as a kid, and you don’t even know that you’re being openminded; it’s just normal.”

Whether it’s her videos appearing on your social media or seeing her face on the big screen, Yunger’s talent and comedic skills are unmatched, preparing her for the bright future ahead.

“I want to create original and interesting content that resonates with people in both comedic and serious ways as an actor, writer and producer, all while working with people that inspire me,” she says. “Social media is fantastic and I love directly connecting with people, but I’m excited to bring my longer-form scripts and ideas to TV!”