Beef secured a momentous five awards at the 75th Primetime Emmys. Ali Wong made history as the first woman of Asian descent to win an Emmy for a lead role. Steven Yeun won his first Emmy, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Show creator Lee Sung Jin earned honors for both directing and writing.
The Netflix and A24 series won overall for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Including their earlier recognition this month for casting, costumes, and picture editing in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Creative Emmys, Beef took home eight Emmys in total.
Wong tugged on the heartstrings with her speech dedicated to her parents and her two young daughters. "I wouldn't be standing here without my parents, my amazing parents, my mother, and my father who I so wish was alive to share this moment with me. My hilarious father who loved me unconditionally and taught me the value of failure. To my beautiful daughters, you are my everything and thank you for inspiring me."
Lee Sung Jin was vulnerable with his reflections. “Wow, thank you. You know, 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. So I’m really grateful and humbled by everyone who watched the show and reached out about their own personal struggles. It’s very life-affirming, so thank you."
He continued, “I feel like we live in a world designed to kind of keep us separate. Even here, some of us go home with trophies, other people don’t. I think for some of us when we live in a world like this, you begin to think there’s no way anyone can ever understand you or like you or much less no potential at being loved. So the greatest joy of working on ‘Beef’ has truly been working with the folks up here who loved so unconditionally. Thank you to them. To anyone out there who directly or indirectly was involved with the show, thank you so much.”
For Steven Yeun, he emphasized compassion in his speech, something he reiterated when asked about mental health by Timid during the backstage Q/A following his win.
"I think confronting things like this in a safe environment with love and a lot of courage and strength with all these incredible people and humans and artists is our blessing. I feel personally that the conversations we have about the things that we explored in the places that we come to afterward have been nothing short of a true privilege. So we like each other and we love each other, and it's pretty great."
Congratulations to the cast of Beef and to all the Emmy winners.
