When Youn Yuh-Jung first heard about the role of Chairwoman Park in Beef Season 2, she laughed. Creator and showrunner Lee Sung Jin had pitched the character to her in an early meeting about the Netflix anthology series. “[Yuh-Jung] was remarking on how nobody in Korea would ever write a character for her where she has a husband 20 years younger,” Lee had told TV Guide. Ahead of a special screening for Beef Season 2 in New York City, Youn elaborated on their conversation.
“That was very interesting to me, because no director would use me [in] that kind of relationship — [with someone] 20 years younger,” Youn said. In Beef Season 2, Chairwoman Park is the new owner of the exclusive country club where much of the story takes place. Park is married to plastic surgeon Dr. Kim, who is played by another icon in Korean cinema, Song Kang-Ho.
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“Korea is — we are a very conservative country, most of Asia. So that’s going to be not normal,” Youn said of the marriage. “Nobody will make a movie like that. They’re not going to make the character like me and Song Kang-Ho in [a] relationship.”
Youn was also instrumental in getting Song onboard the project. After the actor received the script, he initially said no to the role of Kim. “He very nicely said that role he couldn’t play, it’s not fitting to him,” Youn recalled. She directly called the Parasite actor, who she’s known for years. “I told him, ‘You could fit in any role, you are Song Kang-Ho. You are huge!,” Youn said. “Then, according to Sonny, after three days later he said, ‘I will withdraw my rejection.'”
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Though the dynamics of their characters’ marriage aren’t explored until later on, both Park and Kim’s actions significantly impact the two couples at the center of this season — Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan), and Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny).
Youn also shared her initial hesitations with joining the anthology series. “I’m not very good at English, so I cannot speak English,” the 2021 Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in Minari remembers saying to Lee when he had presented the role to her. “And he said, ‘Don’t worry, because you will be a very rich woman who has her own translator.'” In the show, the chairwoman rarely goes anywhere without her interpreter, Eunice (Seoyeon Jang). That helped convince Youn to say yes to Beef Season 2. “OK, perfect!” She remembers thinking.
Youn Yuh-Jung, Song Kang-Ho, Beef Season 2
NetflixBeef Season 2 is available to stream on Netflix.