A small acting choice turned into a big budget issue for ‘Beef‘ season two. Netflix reportedly had to spend “a fortune” fixing a detail that stars Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan insisted on using during filming.
The scenes worked beautifully on set, but they created a costly problem once production moved into post-production. As a result, something that helped the actors perform better ended up complicating post-production.
Why Netflix Had to Spend Big For One ‘Beef’ Scene
During the filming of ‘Beef‘ season two, Isaac and Mulligan chose to wear earphones while performing certain scenes. In the story, they play a couple whose marriage begins to fall apart after their lives collide with a newly engaged pair.
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Because the story includes several intense moments filled with rage and passion, the actors felt music could help them stay in sync with the emotional tone. This approach soon became part of their routine during the eight-episode season.
However, once filming wrapped, the production team faced a major issue. The earphones were clearly visible in the footage. Creator Lee Sung Jin explained the challenge, saying they “cost a fortune to paint out.” He also recalled, “You two were always playing songs as you performed,” highlighting how frequently the actors relied on this method.
Why The Actors Had to Rely On Music
Initially, Isaac tested the idea during a scene in which his character plays a Moog synthesizer. He enjoyed the experience and decided to take it further by listening to music that matched each scene. After he shared this idea, Mulligan quickly asked for one as well.
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Soon after, both actors started using earwigs regularly. For instance, during a passionate kiss scene, the timing worked perfectly. Mulligan shared, “That was amazing because it timed out unbelievably well to the moment. The beat would drop on the [kiss]. We were so delighted every time, we were like, ‘It did it again!’”
Isaac also explained why they continued the approach, saying, “Yeah, the rhythm was lining up. We had to do that because you couldn’t have the music playing to cover up the audio, so we liked [wearing the earwigs] so much. We were like, ‘Why don’t we keep doing that in other scenes?’ And so we started doing that, and it was great.”
Even so, the production team could not keep those earphones visible in the final version. Therefore, editors had to remove them from every affected scene, which required extensive visual work and increased Netflix’s costs.
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