Beef creator and showrunner Lee Sung Jin (Undone, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) talked to Variety about the show’s casting decisions and its cultural impact. The dark comedy was released on April 6 and comes from a partnership between Netflix and esteemed production company A24.
Beef follows Danny and Amy, portrayed by Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead, Minari) and Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe, American Housewife), respectively, who begin to spiral after becoming involved in a road rage incident. The creator describes why the protagonists feel so interconnected with each other: “Both of them assume incorrectly that they cannot show their true selves to anyone in their lives. Maybe that assumption is correct — I don’t know that either can, and so part of the reason they’re drawn to each other is they’re not sure why, but they can feel this other person that is as broken and messy as they are. When you have that, it almost feels like a safe space where you can take off the mask, because you’re like, ‘Oh, that person also looks that way, so maybe it is OK for me to have this little secret thing that allows my messiness to exist.’ I don’t know how conscious of that they are when they begin their journey. But I think definitely by the end, it’s pretty clear that they’re very desperate to stand naked before someone and not be judged — and really, who else is gonna do that in their lives?”
Lee has worked with Wong and Yeun before, on an animated series called Tuca & Bertie. He will also reunite with Yeun for the upcoming 2024 Marvel film Thunderbolts.
Lee reveals that Wong’s character was initially meant to be a middle-aged white man. He says of the change: “The reason I abandoned Stanley Tucci-type very quickly was because — especially in the modern era — you have to talk about race, and there’s so many other shows that do that very well. I really didn’t have much interest, nor the capabilities to handle that, to write about that. So that was a factor. But I think it wasn’t the factor in working with Ali. If Ali were another race, I still would have wanted to work with her. She really embodies so much about this character that is perfect, and she brings so many nuanced layers to the role. The fact that she is Asian American does help, because it allows for so many other doors to open and for us to explore other themes without having to address the card of race, which would take up a sizable amount of narrative real estate.”
While both leads are Asian American, the marketing for Beef did not put a focus on highlighting the series as such. Lee explains why: “I am very proud of all that’s happening in Asian American culture today. But I think especially as a writer, you’re always wanting to lead with character first. Yes, these characters happen to be Asian American, but there’s so much more to them than just that. It really isn’t an act of dodging, but it is more of an actively pursuing character. The marketing has been great, both on the Netflix side and the A24 side, wanting to really capture the mood and tone of the show and the mood and tone of these characters. Just the fact that they are Asian American says a lot on the posters, so allowing the show and the world and the characters to overtake that. It just happened organically more than anything else.”
Lee ends the interview with his experience as a Korean writer in the industry. He says, “I just try to chase the ideas that are exciting to me. There’s certainly a lot of pressure to impress. I understand — it is an ongoing narrative that I certainly want to be a part of — but yeah, I leave that to the outside world. Internally, I tried to just focus on the ideas and the characters and just mining from real life, trying to try to touch something true every once in a while. I think if I just keep my blinders on that, then everything else organically bubbles up.
All episodes of Beef are now streaming on Netflix.