When “Beef” premiered on Netflix in 2023, it didn’t just trend—it dominated. What began as a sharp, stand-alone limited series from creator Lee Sung Jin quickly evolved into a critical juggernaut, fueled by the electric, volatile chemistry between Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. The industry took notice. After a historic awards sweep, netting eight Emmys, three Golden Globes, and a pair of SAG Awards (with both Yeun and Wong cleaning up at every stop), the show’s trajectory shifted. Capitalizing on that momentum, Lee reimagined “Beef” as an anthology series, paving the way for a whole new cycle of high-stakes obsession.
“Beef” Season 2, which drops its entire eight-episode season on April 16, features a new feud and a new star-studded cast. Want to join the action? Here’s everything you need to know about getting cast on “Beef,” including how the casting directors brought Season 1’s critically acclaimed ensemble together and how to ace your audition.
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“Beef” Season 1 follows businesswoman Amy Lau (Wong) and contractor Danny Cho (Yeun), who become enemies amid an outlandish road rage incident. When Danny nearly drives his truck into Amy’s SUV in the parking lot of a home improvement store, Amy follows him, instigating a messy car chase that leaves them both rattled. Danny memorizes Amy’s license plate as she leaves the scene, which helps him locate (and vandalize) her home. The feud escalates, causing their fragile personal and professional lives to fracture in the process.
According to Netflix, the next installment follows Ashley Miller (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin Davis (Charles Melton), a Gen Z couple who witness an “alarming” fight between their millennial boss, Josh Martín (Oscar Isaac), and his wife, Lindsay Crane-Martín (Carey Mulligan). Set against a country club backdrop, this high-society pivot will add a new dimension to an already explosive series, packed with anger and vengeance, as it explores the tense generational divide. Lee returns as creator, showrunner, and executive producer. Jake Schreier, who directed six episodes of Season 1, also returns as an executive producer alongside Season 1 stars Yeun and Wong.
Season 1 of “Beef” featured:
- Steven Yeun as Danny Cho
- Ali Wong as Amy Lau
- Joseph Lee as George Nakai
- Young Mazino as Paul Cho
- Remy Holt as June
- David Choe as Isaac Cho
- Patti Yasutake as Fumi Nakai
- Ashley Park as Naomi
- Maria Bello as Jordan
- Justin H. Min as Edwin
- Andrew Santino as Michael
- Mia Serafino as Mia
- Rek Lee as Bobby
- Alyssa Gihee Kim as Veronica
- Andie Ju as Esther
- Gina Lee as Mrs. Cho
- Jerry Hanjoo Kim as Mr. Cho
- Eddie Shin as Pastor Kim
And Season 2 of “Beef” will include:
- Oscar Isaac as Josh Martín
- Carey Mulligan as Lindsay Crane-Martín
- Charles Melton as Austin Davis
- Cailee Spaeny as Ashley Miller
- Youn Yuh-jung as Chairwoman Park
- Song Kang-ho as Dr. Kim
- Seoyeon Jang as Eunice
- William Fichtner as Troy
- Mikaela Hoover as Ava
- BM as Woosh
Claire Koonce and Charlene Lee (“Mr. Throwback”) of CLCK Casting were the CDs behind Netflix’s “Beef” Season 1, for which the two took home an Emmy for outstanding casting for a limited anthology series or movie. Jeanie Bacharach (“The Bear,” “Dying for Sex”), however, took over the casting reins for “Beef” Season 2.
Lee told us she and Koonce are always in the actor’s corner: “We want you to succeed, and we want you to get the job…. There have been so many instances where someone comes in and auditions over and over and over again. You call them back [repeatedly], and I’m sure they’re thinking, Am I ever gonna get a job [from] this person? If you’re getting repeat opportunities, you’re doing the right things, and hard work will generate opportunities. We know how challenging that can be. But we’re always here to support [you] in whatever way we can.”
As the two emphasized in their conversation with Variety, everything they do remains grounded in kindness. “At the end of the day, it is a business and it’s an industry. But we in casting get to hold this sacred little space where people have the courage to step in and share a piece of their soul. They’re standing on a stage completely exposed and letting us judge them. And we have to make that space for them. Starting with kindness truly leads to a better creative product in our opinion,” Koonce explained. “Treating people with respect, treating the craft with respect—without forgetting the pragmatic and logistical sides to it—makes for a better product and a nicer world.”
Bacharach also told us that, no matter the outcome, actors should make the most of every audition. “Be prepared, do the homework going into the room, and think about going into that audition to win the room and not the role. Only one person can get the job, but a CD isn’t only ever casting just that role; they’re casting parts they don’t even know exist yet,” she said. “The CD is going to remember people who come in and do good work even if they didn’t get the job, so make the most of it. Think about longevity and not just landing that part that you’re going in to read. Trust that if you’ve done great work, the CD is going to remember you for other things.”
While Wong and Yeun were already attached to “Beef” when Lee and Koonce joined the project, the CDs had the task of casting the supporting characters. “In terms of building the characters around [the leads]—in particular, Amy’s husband and Danny’s brother—[getting] that chemistry right was extremely important,” Lee said. “We were casting in the middle of the pandemic, so there were a lot of challenges of how to navigate that. Fortunately, we were able to do some in-person chemistry reads and a lot of auditions on Zoom, so we were able to make it work.”
She continued, “We were all kind of figuring out the best way to navigate the process while staying safe. Our first callback session wasn’t in a production office, but outside in the parking lot. In terms of the specific process of casting the show, one thing that was really exciting was that there were so many different types of characters, which allowed us to go through the traditional methods of casting as well as do a ton of outreach to find new faces.”
“During the pandemic, everything became much more digitized. That meant that Charlene and I got to implement a lot of new methods of outreach in order to reach communities that haven’t been utilized as much,” Koonce added. “For example, we don’t tend to use a lot of social media in our casting, because you focus on acting skills. But the fact that we’re able to do a completely open call to anyone who is able to audition using social media, using organizations like the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, and partnering with a lot of organizations that could reach communities that aren’t checking breakdowns—getting the word out there, that was something that we were excited to be able to do.”
But this new process helped the team discover some actors they might’ve otherwise overlooked. “Both Young [Manzino] and Joseph Lee were actors we found through extensive searches,” Lee told Variety. “And the George character was particularly hard to cast because I think that character is really tough—you have to understand why he and Ali’s character are fighting for their relationship. It’s easy for that character to be one-dimensional but he avoided that. And when Joe got the role, it was just so satisfying.”
With Season 2 set to debut on April 16, and “Beef” Season 3 still in limbo, there are no auditions available at this time. As we await news of the show’s fate, we suggest bookmarking our main casting page for updates on the latest calls. You can also check out our guide on how to audition for Netflix for more advice. Or, for those hoping to boost their résumés, applying to one of these gigs is a great way to get noticed:
Show them what you’ve got. While Koonce recognizes the pressure that comes with an audition, those who find themselves in her room should focus on their interpretation of the material. “Nowadays, actors tend to take the breakdown as gospel, where [before] they took it as a sketch that they could kind of paint outside of,” she said. “Instead of trying to guess what I’m looking for and get it right, [an audition is] truly an actor’s opportunity to show us their take on a character. I wish actors knew the agency that they have and the freedom that they have in a self-tape, that it’s not a test. Instead of trying to make the ‘right’ choice, make your choice.”
Spaeny told Acting for Real that to truly bring a character to life, actors must tap into who they are first. “I think the first step when it comes to technique is to figure out what emotions you can pull out of yourself,” she explained. “Start with yourself because that really is the base to any character. You figure out how to relate to the character just as the person you are, and as you get down to it some things may not be as relatable, and that’s where you use your imagination.”
Don’t put your life on the back burner. As Yeun told us, he spent his early years overanalyzing every choice. “I spent most of my early career trying to pick at the process [in] a very literal way. I think all those things are absolutely necessary. But while I was busy doing that, I was never getting to the intrinsic feeling of why this person exists and who they are in an intangible way. So when I look back at a lot of my early work, I cringe—because I feel like I’m missing something,” he shared, “like I’m performing a vision or idea from a third party of who I think I’m playing.”
So it’s no surprise his best piece of acting advice has nothing to do with acting at all. “I wish I’d known that the journey continues to be the most interesting part of all of it,” he said. “The life you live really gets to inform the work that you create. Not has to, but gets to. Don’t forget to live a life.”
Go big or go home. While this might sound cliche to some, the old saying holds true for Mulligan. “I’ve always just been, like, nerdily keen for all the jobs that I’ve wanted to be involved in,” she told us. “I don’t have the ability to play it cool, at all. And I suppose the one bit of advice that someone told me is that [CDs] want you to be the right person when you walk in. They want you to be the person that they can go, ‘Oh, brilliant, we cast that job.’ They don’t want you to flail and forget your lines and dissolve into tears. They just want you to be great, and they’re rooting for you in that sense—that you’ll make their lives better, make their lives easier.”
You’re stronger than you think. Despite Park’s mounting success, the actor has found herself overwhelmed in the past. That’s when she turns to her phone calendar. “I’ll look at the past month or the past year. [I think about] what the stakes were, or the things that felt biggest in my life at that point, and whether it feels that way now,” Park told Harper’s Bazaar. “That perspective [helps, because] whatever mountain or hurdle in front of me that feels impossible—because I’ve been able to get through those things in the past, I know I can do it now.”