Steven Yeun Reflects On His Starring Role In ‘Beef’; “Judgment And Shame Is A Lonely Place, But Compassion And Grace Is Where We Can All Meet” In Emmys Acceptance Speech

Hot off the grill from recent wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, Netflix’s Beef star Steven Yeun won an Emmy award Monday night for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. 

In a heartfelt speech at the ceremony, the South Korean born actor acknowledged the rarity of Asian actors winning at the Emmys and in the category in particular, where Asian Americans make up only 1% of the nominations.  “Thank you for this immense honor and blessing, man. I have a lot of people to thank that looked out for me on my way to even get to be in this business. Yeun said. 

He went on to thank his wife, children, and Beef cast and crew, specifically photographer Andrew Cooper, who he attributed to helping him get through the most challenging days of filming.  “There were days when it was difficult to live in Danny’s skin. Sometimes I wanted to judge him, sometimes I wanted to make fun of him. And [Andrew] pulled me aside, and he’s like, ‘Never bail on Danny.’’ 

Yeun went on to personally thank the fictional character of Danny, himself. “I want to thank Danny for teaching me that judgment and shame is a lonely place, but compassion and grace is where we can all meet.” 

Beef, created and executive produced by Lee Sung Jin, centers on a eccentric perfectionist named Amy (Ali Wong) and Yeun’s Danny, a struggling construction worker full of ennui, and their downward spiral after they are involved in a Los Angeles road rage incident.

The 10-episode series hit Netflix in April 2023 and, fueled by strong word of mouth, more than doubled its audience from its first week with 70.38 million hours viewed by its second week It ended up reaching the Global Netflix Top 10 in 87 countries.

Beef is up for a total of 13 Emmy nominations.