The release of \u201cBeef\u201d Season 2 sparked a flurry of online discussion, from explainers<\/a> on its gripping finale<\/a> to interpretations<\/a> of what the ants really mean<\/a> to visceral reactions<\/a> to the show\u2019s arguably two most shockingly revolting scenes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But what hasn\u2019t been talked about enough is the sheer \u201cKoreanness\u201d of the popular Netflix<\/a> series. Aside from being a twisted thriller that exposes humanity\u2019s darkest tendencies and the ills of late-stage capitalism, the show also serves as a love letter to Korea and Korean culture, told with an appreciation, authenticity and nuance that could only come from a creator drawing deeply from their own heritage. While Lee Sung Jin \u2014 the series\u2019 Korean American creator, showrunner, writer and executive producer \u2014 had already given us a glimpse of this in Season 1, he leans even more heavily into his Korean roots in the second season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are, for instance, scenes with extensive Korean-language dialogue and myriad references to K-beauty and K-culture throughout the series (e.g., the Korean energy drink Bacchus<\/a>, K-pop powerhouse BTS, various Korean skincare treatments). Actors of Korean descent also make up a significant proportion of the cast, with Charles Melton, Matthew Kim and Seoyeon Jang appearing alongside legendary Korean actors Youn Yuh-jung<\/a> and Song Kang-ho. The season finale takes place in Seoul, where some of the scenes are filmed at the majestic headquarters of Amorepacific<\/a>, South Korea\u2019s largest cosmetics company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Melton, who stars as the half-Korean character Austin and is himself half-Korean, called it an \u201cincredible gift\u201d to be able to shoot the final episode in Seoul.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy mother is Korean, and I spent part of my childhood there,\u201d he shared via email. \u201cSeoul has always been part of me, but returning as an actor telling this story was something else entirely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite the global rise of Korean popular culture, it\u2019s still rare for a Hollywood series to feature so many Korean cultural elements and such prominent Korean representation both behind and in front of the camera. For Kim, who plays beefy tennis instructor Woosh, the show felt different from the outset. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt started with Episode 1, where everyone is waiting at the country club for Chairwoman Park to arrive,\u201d Kim told celebrity.land over Zoom. \u201cThey say, \u2019<\/span>Annyeonghaseyo<\/span><\/em>!\u2019 To see Americans greet in Korean \u2014 this is something you would\u2019ve never seen 10 years ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He added, \u201cIt\u2019s a huge honor to be on a show where Korean culture and Korean people are respected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That sentiment was echoed by other cast members of Korean descent. \u201cBeing part of a story that connects to my Korean heritage made me realize how much I had been waiting for a project like this,\u201d Melton said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jang, who plays Chairwoman Park\u2019s personal assistant and interpreter Eunice, revealed that working alongside other actors of Korean descent \u201cfelt like home.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think there was an unspoken connection because of our heritage,\u201d she said over Zoom.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But a series like \u201cBeef\u201d that centers Korean identity and culture would have been unthinkable 15 or 20 years ago. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lee, who landed his first TV writing job in 2008 for \u201cIt\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,\u201d recalls how different writers\u2019 rooms were back then. \u201cThere just weren\u2019t any stories being told at all of anyone of color,\u201d he said via Zoom. \u201cYou\u2019re just trying to assimilate and fit in. As a writer of color, you\u2019re trying to copy and mimic, because the last thing you want to do is be yourself. Or at least that\u2019s what you\u2019re almost brainwashed into thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He admits that it took him almost two decades to learn to be comfortable with sharing his heritage and lived experience through his work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c\u2018Beef\u2019 really was the first time that I was able to be 100% myself and put my Asian American experience \u2014 and also the experience of the [other] Asian and Asian American writers \u2014 into a show that we\u2019re writing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite growing up in London and speaking fluent English, Jang never even entertained the possibility of working in Western television until she was cast in \u201cBeef.\u201d Jang had worked primarily on Korean films and K-dramas. Then she appeared in the 2025 American spy thriller \u201cButterfly,\u201d but as that series was shot entirely in South Korea by a predominantly Korean production crew, \u201cBeef\u201d was her first time filming in the U.S. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cFor me, the only option was Korea, because it was like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m Korean. Of course, I have to work in Korea,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThis whole sense of a global stage was not something that I had even considered. It was just never in my head.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kim moved to South Korea to pursue his dream of working in entertainment. There he eventually debuted as a member of the co-ed K-pop group Kard and came to be known as \u201cBM\u201d or \u201cBig Matthew\u201d in the K-pop world. Although he says acting was always one of his goals, the lack of Asian and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) representation in Hollywood kept him from even considering that option.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHollywood in general felt so not feasible, especially for an Asian American growing up,\u201d he said. \u201cWatching people on TV when I was young, the only [Asians] that I saw most of the time were Lucy Liu, Jet Li and Jackie Chan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBeef\u201d marks his acting debut, and he feels fortunate to have landed his first role in a series of this caliber. He remembers being on the red carpet for the premiere of \u201cBeef\u201d Season 2 and realizing that now he, too, might be able to inspire future generations of Asian and Asian American actors to chase their Hollywood dreams. \u201cI think the \u2018Beef\u2019 premiere was the start of, \u2018Everyone I watched when I was younger \u2014 I wonder if I could be that for somebody else,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of course, it certainly helps that the Hollywood landscape has shifted in recent years to keep up with the changing times and global cultural trends. A 2024 study<\/a> by the University of Southern California of the top 1,700 films between 2007 and 2023 showed that the percentage of Asian characters with speaking roles jumped from 3.4% to 18.4% over that period. Asian men, long deemed unattractive by mainstream Western media, are now often viewed as desirable<\/a> (partly thanks to the rise of K-pop and K-dramas) and increasingly portrayed as multifaceted characters<\/a> in Hollywood films and shows. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHollywood is always trying to tap into what\u2019s hot, and it\u2019s a battle because Asians weren\u2019t seen as hot before,\u201d said Nancy Wang Yuen, an ethnic studies professor at Crafton Hills College who studies AAPI representation in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBeauty standards are changing. When I was growing up, the blond, blue-eyed person was the only kind of beauty standard. Now, because we have K-pop and K-beauty, people are really appreciating the Asian face for the first time in the United States,\u201d Yuen explained over Zoom. \u201cI mean, fetishization always existed. But now people actually want to look<\/em> like us. They\u2019re like, \u2018We want to have the glass skin. We like the K-beauty makeup.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The rise of social media and streaming platforms like Netflix has undoubtedly led to the increased globalization of entertainment (and arguably the Koreanization<\/a> of beauty standards<\/a> as well). We\u2019re currently living in an era where the biggest band, TV show and movie \u2014 namely BTS, \u201cSquid Game\u201d and \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d respectively \u2014 are all Korean and\/or grounded in Korean culture. Stories told by members of the Korean diaspora, like \u201cMinari<\/a>,\u201d \u201cPachinko<\/a>,\u201d \u201cKPop Demon Hunters<\/a>\u201d and, yes, \u201cBeef<\/a>,\u201d have also won prestigious awards in recent years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Both Jang and Kim say that they feel very fortunate to have arrived in Hollywood at a moment when K-culture is enjoying global popularity and Asian and AAPI talent and storytelling are receiving unprecedented attention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI mean, it is very good timing,\u201d Jang said. \u201cSpeaking as a Korean, I think BTS and Blackpink really did their share of making Korea proud and paving the way for us. I think we are all benefiting in a very trickle-down effect in culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI feel incredibly lucky,\u201d Kim said. \u201cAnd while I\u2019m of Korean descent and love how much attention K-everything is getting, I think it creates hope for other ethnicities of Asian descent to have that door open, too. I really believe that everyone has something beautiful to show about their culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n All that said, industry observers like Yuen stress that Hollywood still has a long way to go in terms of Asian and AAPI representation. That USC study referred to earlier in this article that examined the 1,700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2023? Yuen points out that much of the increase in Asian representation over that time period actually stemmed from imported Asian films<\/a>. What\u2019s worse, the following year\u2019s USC study showed that the percentage of speaking roles for Asian characters fell from 18.4% in 2023 to 13.5% in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat Filming A Show Like \u2018Beef\u2019 Meant To Its Cast Members Of Korean Descent<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How \u2018Beef\u2019 Opened Up New Possibilities For Its Creator And Cast<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\nWhat Hollywood\u2019s Appetite For Korean Culture And Asian Talent Feels Like From The Inside<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\nWhere Do We Go From Here?<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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