Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac Dish on Epic Season 2 Fight Scene in ‘Beef’

Netflix’s Beef is back, bringing with it a fresh batch of onscreen conflict for viewers to enjoy.

At the Season 2 premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday, lead actors Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac shared insights into the creation of their initial episode’s fight scene and emphasized the need for authenticity to set the tone for the new season.

“Creating the fight scene was like solving a complex puzzle,” Mulligan, who portrays Lindsay Crane-Martín, remarked. “It took months of collaboration with Sonny [creator Lee Sung Jin] to get it right.”

Isaac, taking on the role of her spouse Josh, added, “Our preparation involved improvisations and rehearsals where we laid out the scene almost like a stage play.”

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Mulligan continued, “Since it was the pivotal event of the season, it had to be utterly authentic. Initially, we were unclear about who these characters were, which made it challenging to craft a scenario where the audience would care about their conflict. The final scene, witnessed by their children, was particularly challenging to perfect. Sonny’s flexibility in adapting the script on the fly and responding to what he saw during filming was key to its success.”

As previously reported by Deadline in 2024, Season 2 of Beef follows a young couple (played by Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny) who become entangled in a complex web of manipulation and power plays after witnessing a violent altercation between their employer and his wife at an upscale country club owned by a Korean billionaire.

The series, inspired by Lee’s own encounter with road rage, initially starred Steven Yeun and Ali Wong in Season 1. The pair played two strangers brought together under bizarre circumstances following a vehicular incident. The inaugural season received critical acclaim, securing four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and three Golden Globes, including Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film.