Yahoo News Steven Yeun and Ali Wong broke out in stress hives after filming new series Beef : 'Our bodies shut down'
Steven Yeun and Ali Wong's bodies gave out on them after filming Beef, Netflix's upcoming road-rage dramedy series.
The pair play strangers who let an uncomfortable driving incident escalate to dizzying, unhinged heights in creator Lee Sung Jin's (Tuca & Bertie, Dave) 10-episode dark comedy. The chaos that unfolds on screen trickled into the actual lives of the actors, who "broke out in hives" following performances that required them to channel explosive, unresolved anger.
"Our bodies shut down," Yeun said during a Q&A following the series' world premiere at South by Southwest.
Wong added, "Steven and I both broke out in hives after the show. Mine was on my face. His was all over his body because he's weak like that. It definitely took a toll on us, but we didn't even realize until after the show ended. I mean, I won't even talk about what happened to [Yeun's] elbow."
Courtesy of Netflix Steven Yeun and Ali Wong in 'Beef'
"I don't think we knew that was going to happen," the comedian continued. "If we knew what we were going to put our bodies and minds through, maybe we wouldn't have said yes, but we're really glad we did."
Jin said the A24-produced series was loosely inspired by a road-rage incident he experienced himself. "It was with a white SUV. It honked at me, cursed at me, and drove away," he recalled. "And for some reason, on that day, I was like, 'I'm gonna follow you.' It didn't end like it did in the show — that's why I'm here, able to talk to you today — but it definitely made me think about how we live in such subjective realities where we project onto people we don't know."
Beef is not the first collaboration between its creator and lead stars: Jin was a writer on the animated adult comedy Tuca & Bertie, in which Wong and Yeun voiced romantic partners with zero beef.
Premiering April 6 on Netflix, Beef also stars Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, Ashley Park, Justin H. Min, and David Choe.
Yeun's recent credits include the films Minari, Nope, and The Humans and the TV series Invincible, while Wong's include the series Big Mouth, Human Resources, and Paper Girls and the stand-up special Don Wong.
Watch the Beef trailer above.
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