Charles Melton Shines as a Lovable Himbo with Heart in ‘Beef’ | Vanity Fair

Charles Melton signs on to our video call wearing a white T-shirt with the words “Autumn Durald Arkapaw” on it. The shirt became a hot item after Arkapaw was nominated for the cinematography Oscar earlier this year—and then made history as the first woman to ever win the category. Melton, who worked with Arkapaw on the 2019 young adult romance adaptation The Sun Is Also a Star, breaks out a megawatt smile when I point it out.

Melton bursts with energy whenever he’s talking about a past collaborator of whom he’s a fan. And he’s building a career lined with them. After a breakout performance opposite Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes’s 2023 drama, May December, he signed on to star in the second season of Beef because of his admiration for its creator, Lee Sung Jin. He was drawn to his latest film, Her Private Hell, which debuted at Cannes, because of its director, Nicolas Winding Refn, who hadn’t made a film in 10 years. And he’ll be seen later this year in a new film by Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, the duo behind Sing Sing and Train Dreams (yes, he loved both movies).

The character of Austin in this season of Beef, though, may be his most personal role yet. Lee (who goes by Sonny) wrote the role specifically for Melton and even included a photo of him on his inspiration board. They carved out the character—a well-intentioned former football star who works with his fiancée (Cailee Spaeny) at a wealthy country club—together, pulling inspiration from Melton’s own experiences. On this week’s episode of Little Gold Men, Melton explains why he felt so protective over Austin, how fatherhood has changed him, and what he looks for in a director.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Vanity Fair: Were you a fan of the first season of Beef?

Charles Melton: I've been a fan of Steven Yeun and a follower of his art for a while. And I ended up meeting Sonny, who pitched me the show after showing me a picture of myself that he said was hanging in the writers room. I just immediately knew. I could just feel it, and I could feel how open I became to him. And he just was like, “With Steven, it was Steven’s Korean American story, but the half-Korean, half-American experience, people don’t ever talk about. And so I wanna do something with that.”

When you met him, it was just an idea, not a script yet? Because from what I understand, you really helped shape this character.

Yes, he just had the idea. He told me about Austin, and he talked about this guy who is so kind and sweet and empathetic. And all these things he was saying kind of translated and filtered in my mind. I was like, Oh, this is the deconstruction of the male archetype, you know, where there’s this immense vulnerability and introspective, just this empathy. He said Austin puts people on a pedestal. And I’m like, Oh, codependent. I know a little bit about codependency in certain friendships and relationships. For me, I had to really kind of relinquish this sense of protectiveness that I have over Austin, because he’s funny because he's so serious about these circumstances that he’s in. As an actor, that technically can be very difficult. But that’s the kind of comedy I love.

Melton with Oscar Isaac in Beef.

Austin is funny, but he’s also so heartfelt and so genuine.

Someone was referencing Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, and what they do so well is they play these “himbo,” dumb characters. But the reality of what they’re doing is injecting so much humanity, and that’s what I had to do with Austin. You see him slowly crack throughout the whole season. His mask is crumbling simultaneously with his relationship, so he’s kind of trying to put all the pieces together. That, to me, was very fun, but difficult in the best way.

Let’s talk about the ending. How did you feel about Austin’s choice to stay with Ashley?

I’m more interested in the opinions of the audience watching. What do you think? Did Austin make the right choice?

I was very upset, and then I thought it was the right ending for this series and story.

I was in the car with [cinematographer] James Laxton when we were filming that ending scene, and it was just him and I for an hour and a half, doing these extended takes. And I was getting some notes on the walkie-talkie, but I knew this was, like, a very big moment for Austin. I wasn’t thinking about the references people have told me about—they describe this scene of The Graduate, where it’s almost this realization of this choice you’ve made.

I think it paints a perfect picture of just the reality of humanity. We have to make difficult decisions, and there is no perfect decision. I think that’s weighted with Austin maybe realizing if he went to Eunice in that moment, it doesn’t change the baggage that he carries. The fact is, he chose his fiancée that he was about to have a kid with, [as] opposed to this fantasy that kind of opened the door to his own identity in being Korean.

Speaking of identity shifts, you became a dad pretty recently.

I did.

What’s that been like for you?

It’s changed my life. My daughter is three months [old]. Just watching my partner [filmmaker and photographer Camille Summers-Valli] be the mother that she is, it’s the most incredible, beautiful thing. I’m so just inspired and moved, and my heart’s completely opened up. I understand time a little bit better now, the structure of time, you know?

You and your own mom seem to have a very close relationship. You’ve brought her to awards shows; she has a voice cameo in Beef. What did she teach you about being a parent?

She was just always there. And I don’t mean, like, there 24/7, but when she was there, she was there. I think from my mom and my dad, especially my mom, just, like, learning the example of someone who’s passionate and has so much love and richness in their life is, like, the great example to me as the father I hope to be, where my daughter can see me and her mom just pursuing our dreams and doing art and just so happy, where she’s like, Oh, I can do that too.

May December was such a huge moment for you. How did you approach what you did next?

I’m filmmaker-driven. So my experience with Todd Haynes, he’s one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. He’s a pioneer. It’s always great to think about being a lead in something, but I’d rather be a part of something great than just have a great performance in something that’s maybe not so good. For me, it’s just a feeling I get. When I read something, I’m like, Ooh. I read this script the other day that I was sobbing for 20 minutes after I finished the script. It’s like a fresh breath of air because you’re like, Ooh, this part of my soul.

Your next projects are with Nicolas Winding Refn and then Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, the pair who did Train Dreams. So what was it about Refn that made you wanna be a part of that project?

He’s a beautiful painter and he paints with colors and the cinematography, and this unreality that he kind of creates for you to exist in as the artist is the best. We made that movie with very little money, but that experience was some of the best 56 days of my life. And I got to do action. There’s a lot of action in it. He was like, “You’re gonna be a superhero.” So I did my superhero movie with Nick Winding Refn.

Do you know, upon your first conversation with a filmmaker, if they’re going to have the right vibe for you?

I get a good sense because a lot of it is subconscious. For example, with Refn, it was like a Q&A. He was asking me, “What do you think about this?” I knew what he was doing. He wanted to see how I saw the world, how I thought about certain things, which I thought was very interesting. I think every filmmaker kind of does that in a way.

It’s quite a list that you’ve worked with lately.

Yes. And no one was ever like, “Oh, we’re just coming to talk to you because you’re Korean.” It was because of the work, which was so cool.

What’s the best form of revenge?

Kindness. There’s no time to be petty, even though a lot of people are petty, and it may feel nice for a second. But if you wanna experience revenge, watch I Saw the Devil by Kim Jee-woon, a Korean film that has intense revenge.

I know you’re a fan of Korean cinema. If you had to only pick one Korean movie to be your favorite, what would you pick?

I’m not gonna say Parasite because that’s a no-brainer. Oldboy.

Why?

Well, I’ll just say, trigger warning. I took a group of friends of mine that I love, that are in the arts, and they’ve never seen Oldboy, and I think they were pretty astonished at the fact that I didn’t even give them a heads-up of what it was about. They were borderline upset. I just think it’s a masterpiece. And if you don’t wanna watch that because I said ‘trigger warning,’ watch Memories of Murder.

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