‘Beef’ Star Young Mazino on Working With Ali Wong, Workout Routine

TAKE OUR word for it: Beef is a wild ride. A24 and Netflix’s freshest series unravels a feud fueled by an inciting road rage incident between two strangers, unfolding over ten darkly comedic, soul-stirring episodes. There are countless reasons why you should watch Beef. From series creator Lee Sung Jin’s (fka Sonny Lee) sharp writing, to Jake Schreier’s vision, a soundtrack of ’90s bangers (the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, Incubus, and Tori Amos), and a standout cast including Ali Wong and Minari’s Steven Yeun, both of whom are also executive producers on the series. ICYMI: Marvel recently tapped Lee to rewrite the upcoming film Thunderbolts, which was already set to be directed by Schreier and included Yeun among its impressive cast.

If there’s one shining breakout star worth binging the series for, it’s a name you likely aren’t yet familiar with, but will be taking over your feeds in the near future. Meet actor Young Mazino, who plays Paul, Yeun’s naively charming and good-hearted younger brother who somehow makes being catfished and having an affinity for crypto endearing. In a lineup filled with heavyweight talent, Mazino doesn’t just hold his own, but breaks through as one of the most beloved characters in the series.

Like his character, Paul, Young Mazino is a first-gen Korean-American making his mark on the world on his own terms. While the audience is left rooting for lost boy Paul to make his first move away from the nest at the end of the series, we’re stoked to watch Mazino’s post-Beef star power explode. In an interview with Men’s Health, Mazino talks about preparing for the role mentally (Meditations and gratitude) and physically (calisthenics and Costco protein powder), meeting the moment with his seasoned costars, and the Stoic philosophies that saved him from his very own beef.

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Men’s Health: What was it like having your breakout role alongside heavyweights like Steven Yeun and Ali Wong?

Young Mazino: I definitely had to do a lot of breathing exercises in my trailer to relax. But to their credit, they made me feel comfortable and empowered me. I can’t thank them enough for that.

You and Ali Wong have palpable chemistry.

That would be credit to Ali Wong for just being so cool. Before we started shooting, we went on nice long walks by the beach in Venice to get to know each other, which I think was crucial. I saw her as this comedic deity who my sisters revere, and she’s a titan in the stand-up industry. But she’s very down to earth. Working with her was fantastic.

Your character, Paul, plays a special part of the storyline. You do such an incredible job of delivering those nuances and those layers that everyone is going to wonder: where do you and Paul cross over? How much of that comes from you?

Almost too much, sometimes. It’s a little too revealing. For that reason, I try to approach the character with a lot of empathy. I know where Paul is coming from—I get a lot of the things that he’s going through.

What do you and Paul have in common specifically?

Paul lives in his own world, and that’s something that’s always resonated with me growing up. I was born and raised in Maryland, but my parents are from Korea. My dad came at 16. As a Korean-American, you grow up not really feeling like you fit into the schools you go to. And then on Sundays when you go to church, you don’t feel that Korean, like the other kids who are from Korea. When you’re forced to not have a full identity in either culture, you have to create your own.

Through the process of migrating, your parents also lose a lot of that culture they left behind. They don’t have the time or the energy to catch you up on anything besides the core traditional values. You know, I didn’t even know the Beatles existed until I was in high school. I didn’t know a lot of these things until I got old enough to figure it out on my own. For Paul, whose parents are back in Korea, he’s even more lost in the ether and left to his own devices. Which was something I tried to find through his posture, his clothes, the way he doesn’t quite articulate things very clearly and tends to mumble. He’s kind of a lost boy. That’s something I definitely had to encounter growing up and something I’ve tried to grow out of. And that’s just a continual process for me as I get older.

We can see that in a lot of the Beef characters, right? That everyone is just trying to figure their shit out. Can you tell us about the Korean values your parents instilled in you growing up? How did you apply that to character building?

In the Korean-American community, church is a big thing. It’s not even about religion. It’s about the community where Korean people can gather and feel normal. I’m thinking more of the cultural staples like eating miyeok guk on your birthday, which is like seaweed soup. Or really, listening almost too much to what your parents want for you. It creates this conflict where you want to do the right thing. You want to honor your parents, as cliche as that sounds, but what they want for you is oftentimes more about stability and survival versus thriving or chasing your dreams.

I tried to do the nine-to-five route and found that very unfulfilling. In New York, I was working in corporate finance. I stuck around for five years to essentially pay for drama school. My parents didn’t get it. They’re like, “Why don’t you like to just be financially stable? Why doesn’t that appeal to you?” I think the biggest difference between me and my parents is how much they value stability and comfortability. They provided that for me, so I’ve always wanted something a little more. And battling that–thinking if that’s selfish or not–is a core value of the first-gen Korean-American.

Did you always dream of being an actor?

I had the bug ever since I was a little kid. I would reenact movie scenes, frame by frame, with an obsession. Or write my own movie scenes as a form of play, which became a form of escape, which now is a pursuit of truth, I would say.

When we meet Paul, he appears listless, unmotivated, and playing video games all day. What do you think Paul’s truth is?

I think that’s something he’s struggling to find throughout the show. Paul’s been lost in this dopamine cycle. I know people like this–they haven’t taken that leap of faith to pursue anything. Video games are so much safer. A 20- or 30-minute game is a closed loop. The game will either end in your loss or you’ll win within a limited boundary. There’s no abyss, there’s no unknown. Whereas in real life, if you were to pursue something, anything could happen. Having that freedom of choice without a foundation can be debilitating. I think Paul is in that cycle in the very beginning but actively trying to break out of it. The catalyst is when he encounters Amy and gets sucked into all this beef. That triggers him to want something more. They say that true revolution only comes with true revulsion.

Because this is Men’s Health and you are absolutely shredded in the show, how did you prepare for the role physically? Were you like Paul, shooting hoops at church and lifting?

I grew up getting picked on a lot. In hindsight, I was making myself a target. I was a really small kid and I was always running around my violin case. I had braces and glasses and wore Hawaiian t-shirts. As I got older, I realized that physically I needed to change. My mom is Korean but she gives off Amazon Warrior vibes. She’s a very competitive woman and so she had me play a lot of sports. I’ve always maintained somewhat of an athletic build.

Sonny asked me to bulk up as much as I could a few weeks before we shot. I’m normally a little more wiry, so it takes a lot of calories to build that kind of muscle. I was eating so much whey protein–like disgusting amounts. Morning, breakfast, dinner, before I went to sleep. Mass gainer. A thousand calories per scoop.

Were you working out on top of that?

I would go to the pull-up bars by the pier in Santa Monica and I would just go ham. I would crank out as many pushups, sit-ups, V-sits, and calisthenics as I could. I knew that Paul was not gonna be counting his macros or going to a gym or properly utilizing the bench press. He’s just kind of winging it. So I tried to wing as much as I could.

Whatever protein you were using did the trick! Do you remember which one it was?

Whatever I could find from Costco. Gold Standard? I prefer the natural flavor. Now I go for more plant-based proteins that are cleaner and don’t have any artificial ingredients. I try to get as much protein naturally from eggs and meat and certain nuts.

Has your workout routine changed too? Or can we still find you at the Santa Monica pier?

Every now and then it’s nice to go back there. It’s nostalgic. But now I train at Churchill Boxing Club. I’ve always been a fan of combat sports and it’s useful in certain situations. I’m just trying not to get knocked out on sparring night. That’s where I’m at now.

You looked fantastic at the premiere last week. Casual that Goodfight dressed you! You know, they just dressed one of the Daniels for the Oscars. Now that you’re in the A24 family and being suited by these cool brands, does this moment in time feel different for you? Do you feel like things are about to change?

I feel like things have changed, but internally I feel exactly the same. Where I’m at in my life, I find peace and happiness in a very short list of simple things, like being sound of body and mind, and my parents are healthy and well.

There’s a lot of other moments, but shooting the whole thing was surreal. On the way home from the studio, I would put the top down and I’d see the stars. I would put on some music, decompress, and go down this road digesting all the crazy things that were happening. Those were the moments where I was communing with the cosmos and throwing out my gratitude.

Everyone can relate to that moment, right? Windows down, blasting your favorite song. What did you put on?

I was really into Hyukoh, this Indie Korean rock band, and King Krule. Some MF Doom for sure. And Frank Ocean.

A lot of people will watch this show and wish that Danny (Steven Yeun) or Amy (Ali Wong) would just be the bigger person and have the mental strength to move past all of their beef.

That speaks volumes to the human condition. But that’s also the drama of original choice, and it’s poetic. That’s why I think people will like the show—because it’s a visceral thing. When they watch it, they’ll feel that primal energy that we all share.

That’s a smart way to approach those situations.

I try to practice stoicism. It’s so hard, but I like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. When I was in New York, during my heyday where I was working a ton and really stressed, I was getting into an altercation with some guy on the train and he noticed I had Meditations in my hand. In the middle of the argument he was like, “You should read Epictetus’ The Art of Living.” That really changed everything. So I thank whoever that guy was.

So that was your moment of beef and how you moved forward?

Yeah. If that didn’t happen, I’d probably just be Paul back home in Maryland.

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Stylist: Sean Knight; Groomer: Sydney Sollod

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This interview has been condensed for content and clarity.