Emmys spotlight: Joseph Lee’s ‘Beef’ performance is well-done

“Beef” is shaping up to have a great year at this year’s Emmys. The searing, sizzling, sensational Netflix limited series is predicted to be nominated for at least five Emmys, according to our odds chart, but it could earn a whole lot more than that if key supporting players such as Joseph Lee get caught up in the sweep.

“Beef” follows Steven Yeun as Danny Cho and Ali Wong as Amy Lau — two people involved in an incident of road rage that they just can’t let go of. Over the course of the 10-episode series, the two get caught up in a deadly game of one-upmanship as they try to seek revenge and wreak havoc on each other’s lives, dragging themselves and those around them down along the way. One of those people is Lee’s George Nakai, Amy’s stay-at-home husband.

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George is a sculptor who tries — and fails — to achieve the same artistic success as his late, famous father. His mother (Patti Yasutake) dotes on him but, behind his back, derides his work. George seems like a pleasant, safe, nice guy but there’s more to him than that — none more important than the fact that he just doesn’t understand his wife.

As George, Lee encapsulates the sickly sweet nature of the character and paints a portrait of a gentle, whimpering, weak man who must find the strength to own his own mistakes, stand up for himself, and become a stronger person. It’s actually a wonderful study of a certain type of masculinity. While Yeun’s Danny is a figure of a more juvenile, reckless masculinity like that of a petulant teenager, Lee is the opposite — a calmer, feeble, naive, and more modern picture of masculinity that undoes him just as much as Danny’s undoes him. It’s a detailed, thoughtful performance, and critics agree.

Alison Herman (Variety) observed: “As Amy’s husband George, Joseph Lee is note-perfect as a naïve dope who, while nominally interested in understanding the abyss where his wife’s sense of self should be, just isn’t able to.”

Sirena He (Esquire) explained: “By the end of the series, though, it might just be Joseph Lee’s George Nakai—Lau’s loving husband—who is ‘Beef”s true breakout, as a sculptor struggling with an identity crisis of his own.”

Matthew Mahler (Movie Web) wrote: “There is a sadness and insecurity beneath George and a bit of emotional adultery, so when he speaks Buddhist and Zen-like maxims, one imagines that ‘Beef ‘will reveal him to be a fraud through a cynical comedic lens. But that revelation never comes; George is just a human being with flaws who is trying to be kind, who wants honest connections with people, and who’s striving to be a better person. Like Paul, he is sweet, lonely, and a little oblivious to reality.”

Currently, Lee sits just outside of our six predicted nominees for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor: Young Mazino (“Beef”), Murray Bartlett (“Welcome to Chippendales”), Ray Liotta (“Black Bird”), Domhnall Gleeson (“The Patient”), Richard Jenkins (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”), and Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”). However, Lee could get in alongside his co-star Mazino for several reasons.

Firstly, don’t think that Mazino’s position inside our predicted nominees necessarily hurts Lee’s chances. In fact, Emmy voters aren’t afraid to double up in this category. Last year, three actors got in for “Dopesick” (Will Poulter, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Peter Sarsgaard) and, in the same year, three actors got in for “The White Lotus” (winner Murray Bartlett, alongside Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn). In 2021, three actors got in for “Hamilton” (Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, and Anthony Ramos) and three actors got in for “Watchmen” in 2020 (Jovan Adepo, Louis Gossett, Jr, and, the winner, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). That same year, Dylan McDermott and Jim Parsons got in for “Hollywood.” Those are just a few of numerous examples of this happening, so don’t be surprised if it happens again. Once Emmy voters decide they like a show, they are more than happy to nominate it wherever they can.

And we think “Beef” will be nominated for Best Limited Series, Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress for Wong, Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor for Yeun, Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress for Maria Bello, and Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor for Mazino. Plus, Ashley Park and Lee himself are both on the precipice of a nomination in the supporting categories. If the series lands all of these bids, Lee could easily get swept along for the ride.

It’s likely that Emmy voters will, indeed, love this show, by the way. The critical reception has been off the charts. The show currently sits on a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%. The site’s critical consensus reads: “Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are a diabolically watchable pair of adversaries in Beef, a prime-cut comedy that finds the pathos in pettiness.” That RT score is also the highest out of all our predicted Limited Series nominees. “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” received just 57%, “Black Bird” earned 97%, “Fleishman is in Trouble” scored 87%, “Daisy Jones and the Six” is on 70%, and “White House Plumbers” is on a similar 74%. “Beef,” in this category, is the critical darling of the year — and everyone involved, including Lee, could benefit from that. If Lee did, he’d earn his first-ever Emmy nomination. And deservedly so.

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