‘Beef’ Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac on what drew them to their characters

SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains plot details from Season 2 of “Beef”, now streaming on Netflix

Netflix’s ‘Beef’ is back for a second season, and the anthology series is wild and centers on two couples, Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) and Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny). One of the most intense scenes takes place in episode 5, when Lindsay’s beloved dog, Burberry, goes missing after Ashley sneaks into their house and accidentally leaves the back door open. After hours of searching, Lindsay encounters a coyote attacking Burberry and without thinking about it kills the coyote with her bare hands.

“That was actually the reason I wanted to do it,” Mulligan says.

Creator Lee Sung Jin hadn’t yet completed all eight episodes of “Beef” when Mulligan sat down with him via Zoom, but there was one thing he knew for sure. Mulligan says, “He said, ‘but I know exactly what happens in episode 5.’ He threw the entire episode around losing the dog and ending with that coyote.

“Shooting was a bit crazy,” she adds. “But I was very motivated by the idea of ​​that scene.”

This season of “Beef” takes place at a luxury country club in Montecito. Isaac plays the general manager of the club and Lindsay is an interior designer there. Gen Z couple Ashley and Austin work at the club, but are at the bottom of the pay scale.

The “Beef” begins when Austin and Ashley witness and videotape a heated, violent argument between Josh and Lindsay, suddenly finding themselves with some power to blackmail the elderly couple. Things quickly spiral into a web of lies, power dynamics and despair. Josh and Lindsay’s conflict escalates and the coyote scene marks a turning point for Lindsay and her marriage.

“In that entire time, she had never really discovered anything that she cared about or was particularly good at,” Mulligan says of Lindsay. “I think that was a big part of what I found interesting about her — that despite everything she had built her life on with this marriage, she didn’t really have an identity that she could hold on to.”

Killing the coyote may be an unhinged moment, but Mulligan says, “It’s the realization that the marriage is completely over, and that the only thing in the world that she feels has mutual love and understanding for her is this dog. So killing that coyote in defense of the dog is a huge act of love, but also of realizing that all you have is an animal – you don’t have that with people in your life.”

In the next episode, Lindsay has changed. “She cares less about what people think,” Mulligan says. “For a lot of the first half of the show, she’s so preoccupied with how she’s perceived. After she kills the coyote, she says, ‘Fuck it. I just have to win somehow. I have to find my way to survival. So I thought it was a pretty liberating thing for her.’

Before shooting, Isaac sat down with Lee to find out who Josh is and where he is in his career and marriage. “We started constructing the character together based on an initial idea of ​​the circumstances that happened on the show, and that was an incredible thing to do.”

The exploration process with Lee was valuable for both Mulligan and Isaac in fleshing out their respective backstories and understanding who their characters were and what made them tick.

When it came to Josh, who seems to be bad with money and desperate to preserve his youth. Isaac says, “He has a certain vibe. I’m a young, cool, hip guy – everything is fine. And what he does at home, and the tension between those things, was really fun to explore.”

Josh’s efforts to achieve that young vibe are mirrored at home. He has a man cave full of memorabilia and even owns a Moog synth that once belonged to his favorite band, Hot Chip. In episode 2 he plays it – and he’s not very good at it. A few episodes later, he’s on stage jamming with the band.

Who Josh wants to be is also reflected in his hair – yes, that’s a mini mullet he’s rocking. Issac worked with his hairstylist Tim Nolan, who suggested that style. “It’s perfect again to appeal to someone who is trying to hold on to a certain image of youth,” says Isaac. “And one that exudes a sense of relaxation and energy, even though he’s just being strangled all the time.”

Josh begins stealing money from the club to maintain his lifestyle and maintain his image. “He cares more about identity and he wants enough money,” says Isaac. “He will never be able to join this club, but this is the closest he will get to it.”

Surrounded by extreme wealth, Josh feels entitled – and he also steals money from his deceased mother’s bank account. “So out of desperation, he’s already blurring the lines there,” Isaac says.

“He believes he has the right to get what he deserves, just like all rich people,” says Isaac. “Whatever that means.”