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Spoilers follow for the seriesBeef,all 10 episodes of which debuted on Netflix on April 6.
You take my future, and you take my girl?
So often, Paul just seems lonely.Definitely, I think Pauls a lonely person.
He misses out on two of the very quintessential communities that make up a lot of Asian American culture.
Hes already on the edge.
And if they did understand, theyd want to be alone, too.
I would spend a lot of pre-production days going to PC cafes.
Theres a lot of people in the rooms, and everyones by themselves.
I grew up playing video games.
Its safe, especially for someone who can get so lost in thought, like me and Paul.
Episode fouris really pivotal for Paul.
His real life is more surreal than anything you could write.
Combined with me being a rookie, it was very electric.
I got to look at Andrew Coopers behind-the-scenes photos and half the time were just cheesing.
When all our energies collide, you might really see it.
That dynamic was there.
We approached it by meeting up, going on walks on the beach for several hours.
She was so open, and thats really important for the kind of scenes that we were working on.
You bulked up to play Paul, but you play him as shrunken into himself.
Getting hated on for no reason, and Im like, I didnt do anything!
So then I was trying to minimize my presence.
I had this innate understanding of Paul and what was going on with him internally.
Before I got the audition, I came back from this documentary I was shooting with a friend.
We grew up together; hes Korean, and this was afterthe Asian hate stuff.
We started in Tucson and reached the border to Canada.
I drew a lot of inspiration from him and other people that I grew up with.
Can you talk about your line delivery of Im realizing money is really important inepisode six?
Its a little ashamed and a little surprised.He cant just dream of traveling the world.
That changes peoples mentalities; that can alter someones entire trajectory in life.
After another five years, you get a bigger watch.
And after 10 years, you get aneven bigger watch, and you get three more vacation days.
That promise of stability, I see the allure.
Pauls having that moment.
But who knows if thats the right path.
Hes like, Fuck police, fuck the rules, and I understand that.
Not everything makes sense and not all the rules are right.
It was so epic, it was so intense.
I would fall in love with girls from the other churches that came in to watch the games.
Thats such a defining and nostalgic moment from my childhood.
It was so refreshing to have that scene and to just ball out.
The other scene was more serious, but that was also just as fun if not more fun.
Just get out of here, get away.
But Steven found his line of, You got to get away from me.
That hit a chord in me, and I think it hit a chord in him.
Do you think Paul would ever forgive Danny?No.
Family, particularly in Korean and Korean American culture, is so important.
Hell never forget, hell never get over this.
But I think that theres still love, and love is irrational.
If anything comes out of this interview, its that Jake Schreier is a GOAT.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
