Charles Melton Returns to His Roots in ‘Beef’

PHOTOGRAPHY Luca and Alessandro Morelli 

STYLED BY: Spencer Phipps 

Thanks to his dad, Charles Melton’s love language is film. The actor, 35, first remembers falling for cinema on an army base in Korea. Melton was born in Juneau, Alaska, but spent part of his childhood in Korea, where his father was stationed. “I remember before they played the previews, the screen would turn green and ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ started playing, and you’d stand up [for the Pledge of Allegiance],” he says. Since then, he has become an integral part of cinema, thanks to his Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards–nominated performance in Todd Haynes’s May December. He followed that up with a BIFA-winning Best Ensemble Performance in Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare. This April, however, marks Melton’s return to television after his breakout teen heartthrob role on Riverdale and guest appearances in American Horror Story and Poker Face.

Melton stars in Season 2 of the Netflix show Beef, an anthology series that featured Steven Yeun and Ali Wong engaging in a road rage–fueled war in Los Angeles in Season 1. Praised for its majority Asian cast, Season 2 includes Korean cinema stars Song Kang-ho (Parasite) and Youn Yuh-Jung (Best Supporting Actress winner for Minari), but also features Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and Cailee Spaeny. For anyone concerned the series had shifted to focusing on non-Asian characters, Melton says, “There are a lot of Asian characters in this one. A lot. It goes beyond the press announcement.”

In the series, Melton plays Austin Davis, a former college football player who works at a chic SoCal country club. To prepare for Beef, creator Lee Sung Jin gave the cast a list of the films and television shows that inspired the season. “Sonny talks in percentages sometimes, and he goes, Watch The Sopranos. This show is like 40 percent of that,” recalls Melton. “But the beautiful thing about The Sopranos is that, as the audience, we feel like we’re in the mind of all these characters and watching them hide.” He pauses, as any native speaker does to make sure we’re speaking the same language, and asks, “Have you seen The Sopranos?” “Of course,” I say, watching Melton’s eyes light up as he continues his train of thought: “It’s so incredible where it’s like, you know, Tony Soprano, you’re just in his mind and watching him navigate these crossroads and these obstacles. As the audience, it’s so juicy and exciting to witness that, and to see the nuance of these characters existing in that. Which was really fun with Sonny, just kind of diving into it.” Lee’s other recommendations? “Amadeus. The Handmaiden. Broadcast News. Parasite, obviously.”

I kind of feel like there are all these puzzle pieces to my soul, right? And with each role, a different puzzle piece comes to the surface. 

This is familiar territory for him, seeing as Haynes also gave Melton a watch list before shooting May December. One of Haynes’s recs was Vertigo, of which Melton admits, “This is such a crime—I haven’t seen Vertigo yet.” He does, however, already have a viewing plan in place. “I’m waiting to watch it first with Todd,” he says. “We’ll make it an event, like a holiday.”

With Joe Yoo in May December, Melton had to trust his instincts on who the character was, with direction from Haynes. By contrast, Austin in Beef seems more akin to what we know of Melton, a former football player. “I played football at Kansas State University, but I had nowhere near the success that Austin had. But I did understand the pursuit of something in a world that provides many hurdles at times. I kind of feel like there are all these puzzle pieces to my soul, right? And with each role, a different puzzle piece comes to the surface. It’s amazing when I can tether certain realities in my experience to the roles I’m playing. Sometimes a little bit amplified or not, but for six months of filming, it was pretty good living in the space of: Oh, you know, I am a former Butkus Award winner.”

After six seasons of Riverdale, Melton is used to the rigors of television, but Beef didn’t feel at all like returning to regular TV. The Beef process began during awards season for May December, where Melton met Lee. “I think every process is unique and different,” he says. “Knowing that it was a limited series, it was just kind of like this extended film. But this was close to home for me, in the sense of my character and me both being Korean-American. Seeing him being confronted with his identity the more he is around Koreans, it was really exciting for me.” And it’s bigger than that, too. “There’s a sentiment of Korean cinema that I think Sonny is injecting into Hollywood,” explains Melton. “It’s reminiscent of the films that I love and the directors that I love, like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho. I kind of imagine if they were to come together and have a baby, it would be Sonny. There was such excitement to see the humanity and class in Season 1; it’s not just [centered] on one specific [group]—it’s the Asian community, which is vast. To experience that in Season 2 was really incredible as well. Austin’s a really interesting character. You kind of see him slowly come to this realization that his identity, the conviction he has in his identity, is a mask. And you see it unravel [against] the social constructs of capitalism and the world, and how these people navigate that. And how young love navigates it, too.”

He’s speaking of the onscreen relationship between his and Spaeny’s characters, Austin and Ashley, who are hoping to have a child in the show. Melton, who has been famously private about his romantic relationships in the past, publicly announced on Instagram in January that he is expecting a child with his partner, director and photographer Camille Summers-Valli. Impending parenthood has had him reflecting on his Beef character’s arc. “Life is a beautiful thing and, obviously, I’m the most excited for the life that’s going to come in my partner’s and my world,” he says. “With Austin and Ashley, in the beginning of their relationship, they’re in this honeymoon phase, where it’s just beautiful, pure love, and never getting into a fight. And then they start realizing—and we start seeing—the challenges of the relationship.”

Melton and Spaeny both joined Beef as veterans of Alex Garland films: Warfare and Civil War, respectively. It wasn’t Garland that they bonded over, but their upbringings in Kansas. “She’s from the Midwest; I’m from the Midwest, even though I’m an Army brat,” he says. “Our families went to a Kansas City Chiefs game together before we started shooting. That’s like my homie right there, you know? We’re close. We just really supported each other through the whole process. Our personalities were a great fit with each other—a very Midwest kind of essence. You’re from Kansas?! I’m from Kansas!”

May December earned Melton critical acclaim, and the press tour displayed his genuine love of film. At this point, it’s almost an insult if someone from Letterboxd hasn’t asked you what your top four films are on a red carpet. Fans parse their actors’ choices in the comments with incredible scrutiny. Melton’s selections displayed an eclectic love of blockbusters and arthouse classics when he chose The Matrix, Brokeback Mountain, In the Mood for Love, and Persona. Does he still stand by those choices from three years ago? “I may say a different Letterboxd today than five minutes from now. I get put on the spot and I’m like, Oh shit. It’s just the four things I can remember.” But he has an exceptional love for Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. “It’s Ang Lee. Jake Gyllenhaal. Michelle Williams. Heath Ledger. I remember watching that film—I’ve seen it a few times—before May December, and it’s heartbreaking and sad, but it’s also so beautiful. That movie says so much by doing so little. It really impacted me and was just so moving. You can feel so much; it’s transcendent.”

There are no words for it—the language of cinema is such a nuanced and hard thing to articulate. You’re just like, Man, I love it. And I don’t know why I love it, but I love it. And it forces you to think, and maybe look at your own experience or circumstance, and it helps you dream. And it brings hope. The dialogue of different opinions and perspectives coming together, talking about what they loved and didn’t love. It’s unifying in so many ways. It’s so powerful.”

Melton can wax poetic about Brokeback Mountain one moment, then gush about The Matrix in the next. His tastes are diverse, and the one unifying factor seems to be how much he just loves film. “My gosh, if you told me you hadn’t seen The Matrix, I’d fly to you right now and just be like, Watch The Matrix,” he says. “It’s such a special thing to share, right? Someone’s first experience of watching a film that you consider to be transcendent and amazing.”

There are no words for it—the language of cinema is such a nuanced and hard thing to articulate. 

One thing Melton is grateful for is the opportunity to have played a diverse collection of Asian characters, particularly Korean ones. “It’s exciting. I’ve always been drawn to these complicated, layered, nuanced human characters,” he says. “But even in my own personal pursuit of identity, with every role, it feels like there’s a bubbling of a shadow deep within my soul that’s rising to the surface. So to explore that is exciting, and I’m very grateful for it.”

The opportunity to shoot Beef’s season finale in Korea, where he first fell in love with cinema, was also a dream—Melton’s “biggest dream,” in fact. “I grew up in Korea, and my mother’s Korean—I’m first-generation on my mom’s side,” he explains. “My whole family came to set. It was really beautiful, being able to experience my culture and my identity while being a part of a show that I’m so proud of. And that was where I met and got to work with Song Kang-ho, which was brilliant. What a gift to work with [someone who sets] the standard. I love all his work.”

Next up, Melton stars in Her Private Hell, the project of another one of his dream filmmakers, Nicolas Winding Refn. “I think it’s good to manifest and put things out there,” he says. “Nic told me that his daughter watched Riverdale, and I think that led to [this project], which is incredible, right?” He pauses. “I loved Riverdale. [Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa] is a genius. He’s changed my life.”