Netflix Series ‘Beef’ Season 2 Expands with Korean Elements, Director Interview

would be a big part of it long before I wrote a single word — it was something I was living myself,” Lee said. After Season 1, frequent trips to Korea to make BTS member RM’s music video and encounters with K-pop idols and chaebol heirs proved alluring: “I felt drawn to shooting more in Korea and so I thought it’d be interesting to take that experience and put it onto Austin (Melton’s character).”

Melton, whose mother is a first-generation Korean American immigrant, called it “amazing” that Lee wrote from his own “half Korean, half white” experience. Having lived in Korea for six years as a child, the actor said filming in Korea “felt like coming home.”

Casting choices were also part of efforts to maintain Korean elements in the show. Youn Yuh-jung, best known for her role in the award-winning film “Minari” (2020), plays Chairwoman Park, the aging country club owner. Song Kang-ho, known for his role in the award-winning film “Parasite” (2019), plays her second husband, Dr. Kim. The director expressed his admiration for both, labeling them “the two greatest, not only Korean actors, but actors alive.” Lee also said Song initially declined the offer, unsure of how to play the role. It was Youn who called and persuaded him. “You’re Song Kang-ho. You’re the greatest actor alive — you know how to play any character. You’ll figure it out. You have to do this show,” the director quoted Youn as saying. Melton called working with Youn and Song a dream-come-true. “Song fills this space with this sense of gravitas and humility in his preparation, where he is constantly working in his progress. Witnessing that was one of the greatest moments of my career.” Of Youn, he said: “There’s such a profound reverence — when she’s in the room, you can feel it. It’s this very ‘woo-woo, wah-wah’ magical experience.”