Lee Sung Jin, the creator, executive producer and director of “Beef,” and Jason Bateman, who executive produced, directed and starred in “Black Rabbit,” sat down with Variety’s Clayton Davis to discuss their directing techniques and stylistic choices. Variety moderated this conversation in partnership with Netflix.
Lee – who directed one episode in “Beef” Season 1 – spoke about taking on a larger directing role in Season 2, saying he wanted to “push the surrealism a little bit more.” Bateman, who joined the Director’s Guild of America at the age of 18, mentioned that he grew up acting and began paying attention to sets at a young age, saying “I always hoped and prayed that I would get to a place in my acting career that would allow for me to raise my hand and see if I would be given the responsibility to try [directing] because it’s incredibly complicated and can be in a great way because you have an unapologetic seat at the table with every department.”
Lee also broke down the filming of a scene in Season 2, Episode 4 of “Beef,” in which star Cailee Spaeny experiences a medical emergency and grapples with the pitfalls of the healthcare system. “That episode was based on a real-life ER incident that I went through during the writing of the show,” said Lee, adding that during his 11-hour-long visit, he wrote everything down in his notes app. “It’s been interesting seeing the reactions because…there were all these comments from France and Germany being like, ‘This is not real, right? This is comically absurd.’ And every American comment was like, ‘No, this is us. This is what we have to deal with.’”
Bateman discussed the opening chapter of “Black Rabbit,” calling it a “love story between these two brothers trying to figure out how to be better brothers for one another.” He added, “My opinion as part of the fun as director” is figuring out “what does not having your shit together look like? What does it feel like? What does it sound like? When you direct the first episode of something, you get to establish an aesthetic.”
The pair also spoke about the hard work and long hours they put into their respective projects, as well as the work they did alongside their extensive teams to create the final products. The panel wrapped up with Lee and Bateman each complimenting the other’s work; Bateman gave Lee kudos for living up to the hype of “Beef” Season 1, saying, “You did [it] with such incredibly high stakes, something so high-profile I really enjoyed watching, and you pulled it off on top of it all.” Lee, in turn, praised Bateman’s “command” over the “Black Rabbit” set and his “precise direction.”
Watch the video above.
