It’s time to fire up the grill because Beef is sizzling once again. Creator, EP, writer and director Lee Sung Jin is celebrating after Season 2 of Netflix‘s acclaimed anthology landed 16 Emmy nominations Thursday morning—three more than its first installment.
The latest haul not only cements Beef as one of television’s most acclaimed anthology series, it also marks another milestone for Lee. With this year’s recognition, he became the first Asian television creator to earn multiple Emmy nominations across the Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Writing and Directing categories for the same series. His latest directing nomination also makes him the first Asian director to receive multiple Emmy nominations in the Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series category.
“I’m just over the moon, so grateful,” Jin told Deadline. Amid the excitement, Jin reflected on the success and resonance of Season 2, as it serves a reminder that the work has always been about something much larger than its appreciated accolades. “I think this season has really taught me that more than nominations or commercial success, the reason my collaborators and I continue to do this is we tell stories to each other as a collective consciousness to tap into deeper truths—stuff that’s hard to talk about,” Jin said. “Underneath all the press and the hoopla we continue to try and tap into something very human and real.”
Seeing audiences connect with those stories, he added, “is an incredible gift to be able to do that for a living.”
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That same pursuit of emotional honesty also informs how Lee views his own place in television history. Having landed his first television staff job in 2008 on Rob & Big and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, he said the industry has evolved in ways he never imagined.
“I don’t think Beef could be made when I started, that’s for sure,” he said before redirecting the spotlight towards the Asian and Asian American filmmakers and creatives who came before him. “There’ve been so many Asian American writers and directors before me that have paved the way and didn’t get the recognition they deserved,” Jin said. “Progess should have started earlier, but I’m grateful for the people that are allowing progress to happen now.”
Highlighting his good working relationship with Korean Netflix executives Jinny Howe and Irene Lee, Jin explained that the cultural shorthand they shared helped Beef flourish along with hoping that the show’s continued success creates space for an even wider range of stories from Asian and Asian American creatives.
“I think what often happens is you get success with a certain type of experience and then everyone just wants you to copy and paste and keep doing that,” Jin said. “As every community of color knows, we contain multitudes.”
He continued: “The Asian American experience isn’t just Steven Yeun’s Danny from Season 1. It’s not just Ali Wong’s Amy from Season 1. It’s not just Song Kang-ho’s Dr. Kim or the multiracial aspect of Charles Melton’s Austin from Season 2. I’m so thankful I’ve got to show those slices, but there’s an infinite array of dimensions and layers that we contain. I hope I keep getting these opportunities and continue to show all the different layers that we have.”
Thursday’s celebration extended to the entire Beef family. Lee spent the morning exchanging messages with stars Youn, Melton, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac and Cailee Spaeny. “We’ve really all become family,” he said. “On a day like this, it’s just so lovely to be able to celebrate with each other. The series is not born of one, or two, or three people doing a great job. It’s literally 200-some people all putting in their blood, sweat and tears.”
That collaborative, character-driven philosophy is something Lee is now carrying into Marvel’s highly anticipated X-Men reboot. Reuniting with longtime collaborator Jake Schreier and writing alongside The Bear‘s Joanna Calo, Jin said the team is approaching the iconic mutants by putting their humanity ahead of spectacle.
RELATED: ‘Beef’ Creator-Director Lee Sung Jin Reveals The “Harrowing” True Story Behind Episode 4 & An ‘X-Men’ Reboot Update
“I grew up with X-Men and I think there’s no better set of characters that kind of exemplify feeling othered, feeling different from the world,” Jin said. “We want to continue mining from that theme and it couldn’t be more relevant today in 2026.”
Rather than beginning with world-ending stakes, Jin said that Marvel is focused on making audiences connect with the characters first. “They want to go back to character first, which is the type of writing that me and Joanna do best” he said. “We’re thinking about these characters and what makes them tick. What parts of them feel universally relatable, and leading with that first before we start thinking about plots and world stakes and all that.”
“I think audiences are always hungry for character first,”Jin added. “That’s the thing that makes storytelling resonate, that you’re able to see and identify parts of yourself in these people on the big screen.”
Along with an Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series or Movie nomination, Beef Season 2 also earned acting nominations for Mulligan, Isaac, Melton and Youn, alongside Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
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