IMAGE: Steven Yeun and Ali Wong win awards for Beef. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director Ali Wong has won the 2024 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Limited Series for her performance as Amy Lau in the Netflix series, Beef.
She created history by becoming the first actress of Asian descent to win in the limited series/TV movie category, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
Beef is a 2023 American comedy-drama television series created by Korean director Lee Sung Jin.
It stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as Danny Cho and Amy Lau, two strangers whose involvement in a road rage incident turns into a prolonged feud.
Although Wong had previously acted in the rom-com Always Be My Maybe and had voice credits in animated comedies, Beef, with its darkly comedic twists and existential reflections, was her first venture into the meaningful dramatic fare.
Upon the announcement of her name, Wong kissed Bill Hader, whom she is currently dating.
She then took the stage and said, ‘I really need to thank Sunny so much for creating such a beautiful show and inviting me to be a part of it, and the friendship that I made with you and Steven (Yeun) and Jake (Schreier) and the rest of the cast and crew will always be the best thing that came out of Beef.’
She also thanked her ex-husband, Justin Hakuta: ‘I really need to thank the father of my children and my best friend, Justin, for all of your love and support,’ she said. ‘It’s because of you that I’m able to be a working mother.’
The win makes Wong, whose parents are Chinese and Vietnamese, the first nominee and now winner of Asian descent in the category, which began in 1982.
Darren Criss was the first actor of Asian descent, male or female, to win a limited series lead with 2018’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, while Yoko Shimada’s win for best actress in a drama series (for Shogun) at the 1981 Golden Globes made her the first Asian actress to win in television, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
IMAGE: Ali Wong and Steven Yeun in Beef.
Steven Yuen also won his first Golden Globe Award for Beef.
‘The story I usually tell myself is one of isolation and separateness and then you come up here and you have this moment, and you can only think about everyone else,’ he said in his acceptance speech.
He went on to thank his family, ‘That feels like the plot of Frozen, I just noticed. Shoutout to my daughter Ruthie, family movie night!’
Yeun and Wong aren’t done this awards season: they are also up in the same categories at next week’s Primetime Emmys. The series is up for a total of 13 Emmy nominations, according to Deadline.
