The first episode of Netflix beef ending with a pin drop of Hoobastank’s “The Reason”. The song plays as Ali Wong’s Amy runs down the street after Steven Yeun’s Danny, who only pretended to be a contractor, to come to her house and pay her back after the fire incident on the street in the series.
Finding the perfect song wasn’t that easy, and required a personal email from creator Lee Sung Jin to the group.
“Dear Hoobastank,” Lee joked during Deadline’s Contenders Television panel, where he was joined by both Wong and Yeun. “I wrote a big love letter saying how much I loved the band in college. They won’t let you use the original master because they all had terrible record deals. And so they’re all trying to push the re-recording, and the re-recording, you know, it doesn’t hold up the same. Everyone is older and everything. But they really responded to the program and let us use it.
beef tells the story of Amy and Danny’s downward spiral as they allow their anger and bitterness to take over their lives to extremes sure to be caused by more than just a traffic accident – as brutal as driving in LA.
For Yeun, he said he was drawn to the story because it “takes into account all our shared brokenness and the things we have most in common are sometimes the things that look the ugliest on us.”
“The show was really about never letting this character down. He doesn’t wallow in judgment or shame, he just tries to embrace that part of him and play that part of him in the truth,” he continued. “Which was stupid. But when I came out it was really cool, because then it also kind of makes you feel pity. It’s interesting.”
Wong added that as soon as she heard about the project, she jumped at the role. But she joked that her friends had warned her about a possible windfall from working with Yeun.
“It’s funny because when all my friends found out about the project and who I was cast with, they were all very worried that I was going to fall in love with Steven – none of his friends were worried,” she said. “But we had the best time together and that’s what really counts. I even mean to see this clip [from the end of Episode 1]we laughed and I thought how when they shouted “Cut” we laughed so hard and full of adrenaline that we couldn’t breathe.
beef is currently billed as a limited series, but Lee said he always envisioned the show as an anthology, with each season following different characters who are related to each other.
“That’s why the final is self-contained,” Lee said. “Even so, I don’t mind if the fans ask about it.”
Check back Tuesday for the panel video.
Deadline contender television is sponsored by Apple TV+, Coverfly, Eyepetizer, Final Draft, Los Siete Misterios, Michter’s and Village Roadshow Entertainment. Partners include: Four Seasons Resort Maui, The American Pavilion, Julia Wong Designs and Pamring.
Source: Deadline
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
