Jake Schreier is working on a documentary. He’s logging into this interview from a hotel in Chicago. He won’t say what the documentary is (“There’ll be time for that later”), but that’s fine. This conversation is about his return to “Beef.” His second go around directing episodes of the Netflix anthology series, which earned almost universally positive reviews. And Schreier, who used the Emmy and PGA Award-winning success of the first season to direct the well-received Marvel Studios’ blockbuster “Thunderbolts,” was quite candid about the process.

READ MORE: “Beef: Review: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny Make Love Hurt In A Stellar Season 2

Set in the Central Coast, Montecito area of California, just north of Los Angeles, “Beef” season two follows two different couples. Joshua (Oscar Isaac) is the general manager of a posh country club, while his wife, Lindsay (Carey Mulligan), attempts to find a purpose as an interior designer working primarily for the club. Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton) are a young, twentysomething couple with part-time jobs at the club. When the latter records the former in an act that many might deem as domestic violence, Ashley and Austin have a bargaining chip to further their careers. The entire season hinges on that scene. If it wasn’t believable, the show’s narrative may have completely fallen apart. As Schreier notes, pulling it off was a collaboration between himself, Mulligan, and the series creator and showrunner, Lee Sung Jin, commonly referrred to as Sunny.

Schreier recalls, “I think initially Oscar threw the glass first, and we had built the scene up, and we had agreed on those beats, and Carey was like, ‘I think this can work, but we have to see what happens when he does that. We have to see if I feel like I can meet that energy and fight back, or if I retreat and it’s just scary, then this isn’t going to work.’ And we finally rehearsed the glass, and she was like, ‘Yeah, it’s just not going to work.’ That’s such a great thing about Sunny, is that for all of his precision and getting the story math right, he will always leap in there with actors and find a way on set. Some of his best lines have been written on the spot under pressure in the moment to get that scene back on track, and have her throw the glass first, and the lines that were added to build up to it organically.”

Over the course of our chat, Schreier reflects on the visual language for season two, the difficulty in pulling off that “I Will Always Love You” “Bodyguard” inspired kiss in the final episode, having Bong Joon-ho visit the set in South Korea, and much, much more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Please note: This piece contains major spoilers for “Beef” season two.

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The Playlist: You all enjoyed so much success on the first season. When did Sunny tell you that he’d nailed an idea for the second go around? And when he did tell you about what it was, what intrigued you the most?

Jake Schreier: I mean, obviously, I would hear a lot of ideas for what season two could be, and there’d be a lot of discussions. What Sunny’s so good at is mining these little things from his life. And there was this kind of argument that he overheard or spirited debate, as they say in the show. And it wasn’t so much that the argument was fascinating to him, but it was that people’s responses to it were in that older, more millennial people listening to it would hear, “Oh, well, that’s what happens.” And younger people would be like, “Well, did you call the cops, and what did you do about it? ” And this split and how people looked at it, and I think that led him towards this idea of doing something about generations and relationships. I think once he found that in the older generation – younger generation couple, that’s when he really started to get excited about what he could mine out of it.

How did you decide that you would direct the first episode and the last episode?

I would love to happily direct as much of “Beef” as I can. I was in post-production on a movie at the time [“Thunderbolts”]. I think it was just as much as I felt like I could do, and it felt like if I could only do a few, given that cycles are such an important part of the season, then we talked about the idea of having the same person do the first and last episode, so that you can really quote those things visually.

Was it harder to try to do two gigs at one time than you thought it would be?

It wasn’t easy. [Laughs.] Just from a time perspective. I mean, partly what happened is that we had carved out time for it and then sadly, the LA Fires threw everything out of whack and our schedule out of whack. And so what was going to be just a week of doing the first episode turned into maybe 20 to 25 days of hopping out for a scene here and there, leaving the [“Thunderbolts”] mix at night to go direct parts of it. But I don’t know, it’s such an incredible opportunity to make work that really challenges you with your friends. You don’t want to miss that. And I think everyone at Marvel was really great about it, and people at “Beef” were great about it also. And a lot of that is that Sunny and I have such a shorthand, and so much of what he’s doing as an auteur showrunner really is a kind of directing that he’s really working very closely with these actors on what these scenes are and doing things that a director might ordinarily do. And then I can come in, and we can talk separately about the shots, and I can come in and direct and know that in the end it’s really about his voice and his show that I’m just trying to help bring to life.

In that context, what sort of conversations did you and Sunny have in terms of the visual aesthetic for season two? You’re working with James Laxton, who was not the DP on the first season. How different did you want it to be or not be?

Yeah, Sunny really wanted it to feel different, which is admirable, and wants it as he’s talked about the next album from a band you love, where you want it to evolve. And yeah, Larkin Seiple is an incredible DP, and James is brilliant to have. They’re all incredible collaborators. I think the feeling was the season wanted to open up in terms of color, in terms of light, and feel a little different in the beginning, and then ultimately get to a place that does get darker by the end, but from a different angle. So, I think most of our discussions were given that there was this sort of different look, how much did we want to shift the way that the show was filmed? And I think ultimately we landed on not very much. There is a kind of language that we developed in season one that we wanted to carry over to this season in the way that characters are highlighted and the way that lensing plays a part within that. And it’s something that not only feels like just what “Beef” is because so much of it is about noticing these little glances and reactions in between, and those closeups are so important, but also a language that can really be applied to scenes even when you don’t have the time to do something intricate. Even when it’s just cutting between two characters, there is a perspective shift that’s forced on the audience, where even if they don’t notice it, you are being led towards a certain character’s perspective, and it feels like there’s a hand behind what you’re watching, even when it’s simple.

A key moment in the season is when Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton) see Joshua (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) fighting through a window. In the wrong hands, it could have seemed very forced. How hard was it to make something like that seem natural and not a kooky little setup where someone catches someone doing something “bad”?

It’s very hard. It’s easier when you have the kind of actors that we have. I mean, they can take almost anything and make it feel real and lived in, but it certainly took tons of discussion in production between Sunny and the actors about what that moment wanted to feel like. And it’s very delicate because it needs to be a moment that can feel extreme enough to the kids that they are stunned by it, but also not so extreme to us that we can’t follow Josh and Lindsay going forward. Especially that there’s enough of a balance to it that even though the kids perceive it as something that Josh has done that’s very wrong, which in many ways it is that it’s not something that we as an audience will find unforgivable in him from the beginning and finding that balance and so lucky to have Carey and Oscar who have such, I mean not only just in, they’re two of the best actors on the planet, but also have this history with each other in a comfort and won’t let things be false. Even for all the rehearsals we did, even on the day, there were still adjustments being made to that scene. I think initially Oscar threw the glass first, and we had built the scene up, and we had agreed on those beats, and Carey was like, “I think this can work, but we have to see what happens when he does that. We have to see if I feel like I can meet that energy and fight back, or if I retreat and it’s just scary, then this isn’t going to work.” And we finally rehearsed the glass, and she was like, “Yeah, it’s just not going to work.” That’s such a great thing about Sunny, is that for all of his precision and getting the story math right, he will always leap in there with actors and find a way on set. Some of his best lines have been written on the spot under pressure in the moment to get that scene back on track, and have her throw the glass first, and the lines that were added to build up to it organically. So yeah, very hard. There’s a plan, and then you also are held to account by great collaborators who make sure that it still feels honest to them, and that hopefully takes it out of that territory that could lean towards hokey.

The last episode takes the entire crew to South Korea. It’s a big jump for the show. And just knowing how production works, this was clearly shot either at the beginning or the end of everything you did.

It was at the end. Yeah, I think I was in the middle of mixing. Flew to do a scout. And then I think literally the day after “Thunderbolts” came out, I got on a plane to Korea and we went to prep the episode and were there. And then Sunny had just had his baby, so he couldn’t join. And then he came, I think a week later. I mean, it was such a special trip to get to go there. So many of the movies that Sunny and I both love, and why we sort of work as collaborators, and the shared love for that cinema to get to be there. And Bong Joon-ho came and visited the set, and Song Kang-ho is there. It felt like a very, very special experience outside of also trying to land the plane of the show.

What’s the biggest difference between shooting in South Korea and North America?

O.K., without getting in any trouble, it was just such a focused set. It was such a quiet, focused set. And everyone, I remember there was a moment where I think we were in a crowded hotel room, and there are those moments where your AD will be like, “Hey, if you don’t need to be in here, could you step out to the hall or whatever just so that there’s a little space?” And no one left because everyone was like, “Well, I have to be here. I’m doing a very important job. This is the real sense of responsibility.” The crew was fantastic. It was really fantastic, and it was really fun to get to bring our folks over there and have everyone get to collaborate with each other. And we had seen a glimpse of it because Sunny and I went there, he directed a music video for RM from BTS that I came and helped out with. So, we had previous experience working there that also went very, very well. But yeah, it felt very special.

One of the shots that always lingers with me is when Oscar’s character is being taken away by the cops, and Carey’s character races over and embraces him. James already told me that it was shot in slow motion intentionally. What made you make that choice, and what was the inspiration for that shot?

It’s always funny with these things, where you only remember it from your perspective. For me, I was just like, “Well, so is it ‘The Bodyguard’ or not? And I think there’s a lot of these moments with “Beef” where it’s a little like…Sunny likes to go for it. We’re not trying to hold back or be too cool about things, but also we don’t want to literally be cheesy. It’s always a fine line. And I think the hope was that we’d earned it, that these two great actors and how separate they’d been that whole episode and the whole series, that if you were going to do a moment like that, and also just to show where we are in the middle of Seoul, and just get to live in that moment with them. So again, Sunny may have had a different reference in his head beforehand, but that’s what I brought to him. I was like, “Can we just do ‘The Bodyguard’? Is that right? Is that what we’re doing?” He’s like, “Yeah, I guess it seems right.” And then we researched how that shot worked, which is funny because that turns out that was done on actual dolly track with a switcher where they’re on straight track and then it goes into circular track and apparently they were moving so fast that the camera operator fell off the dolly and the AC had to just keep holding focus and then until he could get back on and catch back up. We couldn’t do that. Where we were, we weren’t going to be able to build a track to make that work. So, Dana Morris, who is an incredible camera operator who came with us to do the oner and all these things, and is someone I’ve worked with on a bunch of action stuff before, pulled it off. So, it’s a steadicam version of it, but the same basic principle of that “Bodyguard” shot. And obviously it’s not singing Whitney Houston. Fineas had sent this piece of music to Sunny early in production. It was this kind of thing that just traveled around the set like wildfire, where he’d play it for people like, “Ooh, I need to hold onto that. ” I think almost maybe more than anything, I feel like that was his inspiration. He is like, “All right, I’m writing a scene that can live up to this music and a kiss between these two that can be that.” And so we had that music there on the day. So, you kind of knew, “O.K., if this is what it is, this is how it should feel.” And this low motion, it’s at 48 ffs. So, it’s like if we really had decided later, it felt like too much, we could have taken it off, but it just felt like it’s that delicate balance.

You’re currently working on a secret documentary, but it’s also been confirmed that you will direct the new “X-Men” movie, which does not have an official release date. Is that every couple of days you work on that? A slow, sleddy process, or is it all happening sooner than people might think?

I mean, something happens on it every day. I mean, it’s definitely a major focus, and I mean, it’s been announced that Sunny and [“The Bear co-showrunner] Joanna Calo are working on the script. So, we talk about that, we check in about that, and I mean, I’ve tried to use the time to just immerse myself in the world and read decades worth of comics, and you’re just thinking about how to honor what it is. And there are so many parts of that world that are so fascinating and fun to play with that have not necessarily been explored very much before, and then also how to make something that feels new. And I think what’s exciting is that everyone involved feels that way. So yeah, we’re plugging away. We’re doing our best.

“Beef” season two is available on Netflix

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