‘Beef’ stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong will be rare pair of Golden Globes winners
Netflix’s “Beef” has been one of the breakout TV series of the year. “The Walking Dead” alum Steven Yeun and comedian and “Birds of Prey” star Ali Wong play people who become embroiled in a bitter feud after a road rage incident. Both of them deliver knockout performances encapsulating each of their characters’ anger, sadness, and, above all, loneliness. They paint a portrait of a pair who hate each other yet are connected by their own respective struggles in life. Critics have praised both performances, too.
Peter Travers (ABC News) explained: “Polish up those Emmys for the year’s best and most addictive new series—a moral tale of LA road rage starring Stephen Yuen and Ali Wong (both perfection) that explodes with rule-breaking experimentation.”
Nina Metz (Chicago Tribune) observed: “These are terrific performances full of uncomfortable nuances.”
Roxana Hadadi (Vulture) opined: “Yeun and Wong’s vibrating, hostile chemistry makes for engaging feel-bad TV that critiques the very notion of inner peace.”
Ben Travers (Indie Wire) claimed: “Even when ‘Beef’ goes too far, it’s held together by Wong, Yeun, and the understanding that this kind of rage doesn’t always make sense.”
As a result, Yeun and Wong could make Golden Globes history by becoming only the third duo to win Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor and Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress for the same show. This first happened in 2004 when Al Pacino and Meryl Streep won for “Angels in America.” It happened again in 2009 when Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney triumphed for “John Adams.”
We are currently predicting that Yeun and Wong will indeed become the third pair of performers to achieve this feat — both are in top spot in our respective odds charts for the Golden Globe TV awards. Yeun is ahead of fellow nominees Jon Hamm (“Fargo”), Matt Bomer (“Fellow Travelers”), David Oyelowo (“Lawmen: Bass Reeves”), Sam Claflin (“Daisy Jones and the Six”), and Woody Harrelson (“White House Plumbers”). Wong, meanwhile, is ahead of Brie Larson (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones and the Six”), Juno Temple (“Fargo”), Rachel Weisz (“Dead Ringers”), and Elizabeth Olsen (“Love and Death”). History in the making!
There’s good reason to predict these two winners. Yeun is a respected actor who has taken the next step up in his career after he landed his first Oscar nomination in 2021. That was for Best Actor for “Minari.” He is also a huge name thanks to his role as Glen in “The Walking Dead.” Golden Globe voters like Oscar nominees, big name stars, and young leading men in this category. Recent young leading men who won in this category include Evan Peters (“Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”) and Darren Criss (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”). There have also been recent Oscar-nominated winners in this category such as Michael Keaton (“Dopesick”) and Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much is True”). And Ewan McGregor (“Fargo”) and Tom Hiddleston (“The Night Manager”) are two huge stars who took home gongs in this category. Yeun is all three.
Wong is also an easy prediction. She’s a comedic actress who displays the full range of her acting ability here with a fierce, tour de force dramatic performance. Golden Globe voters like this type of against-the-grain performance, too. Lady Gaga won this category in 2016 for “American Horror Story: Hotel.” She won that for going against type, too. She was previously known as a singer but showed her acting chops in “AHS” and voters responded to that.
There’s also good omens for “Beef,” too. Both “Angels in America” and “John Adams” also won Best TV Movie/Limited Series so this strong love for the lead actors should also translate into love for the show overrall. “Beef” is our predicted winner in that category, too. Plus, Pacino and Streep also won Emmys for the “Angels in America,” which also won Best TV Movie/Limited Series at the Emmys, too. “John Adams” won the same trio of awards. “Beef” could follow suit.
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