Steven Yeun Credits ‘Beef’ for Teaching Him That “Judgment and Shame Is a Lonely Place” While Accepting Limited Series Actor Emmy
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Steven Yeun thanked the Beef team for teaching him to never bail on his characters while accepting the award for best lead actor in a limited series at the 2023 Emmy Awards on Monday night.
“Thank you for this immense honor and a blessing,” Yeun told the crowd. “I have a lot of people to think of, people that looked out for me on my way to even get to be in this business.”
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Yeun received the award for his performance in Netflix’s Beef, created by Lee Sung Jin and also starring Ali Wong. The win marks a big month for Yeun, who also took home best actor in a limited series at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday and the Golden Globes earlier this month. Wong won her respective categories at all three ceremonies as well.
Beef tells the story of Danny Cho (Yeun) and Amy Lau (Wong), two strangers who, following a road rage incident, embark on a drawn-out feud. Upon its release in April, The Hollywood Reporter critic Angie Han described the show as “a feast of sharp comedy, wild thrills and disarming empathy.”
Yeun continued his speech by thanking “our incredible cast and crew” and shouting out his team at Netflix and A24 and the show’s on-set photographer, Andrew Cooper, who he credited with helping him understand his Beef character.
“There were days when it was difficult to live in Danny’s skin,” Yeun said. “Sometimes I wanted to judge him, sometimes I wanted to make fun of him. And he pulled me aside and he’s like, ‘Never bail on Danny.’ And thanks — I want to say thank you to Danny for teaching me that judgment and shame is a lonely place, but compassion and grace is where we can all meet.”
Yeun finished his speech with a tribute to his wife, Joana Pak , and the rest of his family. “I love you, thank you,” he said.
Beef received nine total nominations at the 2023 Emmy Awards. In addition to wins for Yeun and Wong, the show took home awards for best limited series, best writing and best directing. Supporting actors Maria Bello, Joseph Lee and Young Mazino were also nominated.
Yeun beat out Taron Egerton (Black Bird), Kumail Nanjiani (Welcome to Chippendales), Evan Peters (Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) and Michael Shannon (George & Tammy) for the 2023 Emmy Award.
The 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards were originally set to air Sept. 18 but were pushed to January following the writers and actors strikes last summer. See the full winners list here.
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