The miniseries Beef racked up eight Emmy Awards this month, but its future remains uncertain.
The show’s creator, Lee Sung Jin — who earned Emmys for both writing and directing at the Monday, January 15, awards show — is still waiting for season 2 to be greenlit.
“I know how the business is contracting, and it seems like it gets harder and harder every year for us writers to get something to the finish line, so I don’t take these opportunities for granted,” Lee, 42, told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, January 17, after confirming that the next installment is dependent on Netflix and A24’s go-ahead. “If they said, ‘Hey, let’s go on to season 2 and make an anthology,’ I’d be ready.”
Season 1 of Beef followed two strangers — played by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong — seeking revenge on each other after their involvement in a road rage incident. Both Yeun, 40, and Wong, 41, won Emmy Awards for best acting in a limited or anthology series or movie for their lead roles.
As for whether a possible second season would take place in the same universe — or see Yeun and Wong return — Lee hasn’t made up his mind yet.
“For season 2, it’s hard to even imagine whether it’s the same universe until we really start to excavate and see what wants to rear its head,” Lee said. “And then we’ll chase it, and if that includes the same universe or some fun little callback, great, but that would be ornamental to all of it. I really need to look into the abyss and see what’s staring back first.”
When asked about continuing to explore Asian American characters in future installments, Lee told THR he is “definitely open” to the idea.
“Going forward, whether we’re given an opportunity to continue Beef or something else, I just want to do my best to continually be honest and be myself. If the narrative is calling for exploring more of my Korean Americanness, great,” he told the outlet. “If it’s exploring more of my Koreanness, that’s also cool. If it’s exploring more of my love for early aughts screamo, that’s great too. I think what Beef has shown is that we can be ourselves and be really specific and still reach a universal audience.”
With so much up in the air, one thing is certain — any future seasons of Beef will stay on theme.
“The theme will always be ‘beef,’ and there’s so much beef in the world,” Lee told TheWrap on Tuesday, January 16. “There’s certainly a lot written in my notes app about things that have happened to me over my life or things that I’ve observed that I’d love to tap into.”
Lee previously admitted that the idea for Beef came from a real experience he had where a fellow driver cursed and honked at him before driving off.
“I was like, ‘I’ll follow you,’” Lee recalled of the incident during an April 2023 conversation with Today.com. “I justified it [as], ‘I’m commuting home and this person happens to be in front of me and if we go in different directions, I wouldn’t follow them.’ But we happened to be going the same direction home, for like miles and miles. It was like 30 to 40 minutes. So, I’m sure in his mind … it felt like I was just a wild lunatic stalking him.”
Lee further reflected on how Beef mirrored his personal experience while accepting the Emmy for Best Limited Series on Monday.
“A lot of the suicidal ideation in this show was based on stuff that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years,” he said. “So, I’m really grateful and humbled by everyone who watched the show and reached out about their own personal struggles.”
Along with winning big at the Emmys, Beef took home multiple trophies at the 2024 Golden Globes on January 7, including Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film and individual wins for Yeun and Wong.
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