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Cailee Spaeny looks astatine Charles Melton, her co-star connected the Netflix constricted bid “Beef,” asking for help. “Wait a infinitesimal ... however agelong were we attached?” Melton smiles and reaches for her hand. “We’ve been attached our full lives.”
Have they? Given however they tease and decorativeness each other’s sentences, it definite feels that way. Spaeny and Melton were formed arsenic Ashley and Austin, a Gen-Z mates moving astatine a Montecito state club, dreaming and scheming toward upward mobility, a bully 18 months earlier filming began successful aboriginal 2025. To cement their bond, Spaeny, who hails from Missouri, and Melton, an Army brat who considers Kansas home, decided to instrumentality to their Midwestern roots, circular up their families and spell to a Kansas City Chiefs shot crippled conscionable earlier Christmas.
At 1 point, Spaeny looked implicit to spot her brother-in-law having a heart-to-heart with Melton’s dad. They were crying. After the game, they each went retired for barbecue. Melton amazed his dada with a acquisition — a truck.
“That was precise saccharine and emotional,” Spaeny says of the day. “There’s a batch of filling successful the blanks erstwhile your families are from the aforesaid portion of the country. They’re down-to-earth, churchgoing families. It felt easy. We’re chopped from the aforesaid cloth.”
When the Palisades and Eaton fires delayed the commencement of filming, Spaeny and Melton decamped to Solvang, rented an Airbnb with immoderate friends and continued what Spaeny calls their “weird prep” for playing the series’ besotted couple. They cooked dinners together, played games and adjacent watched “Riverdale,” the CW bid that catapulted Melton to fame a decennary ago.
“We besides watched ‘Wicked’ excessively galore times,” Spaeny, 27, says.
“You were singing a lot,” Melton, 35, tells her.
“I don’t deliberation I sang once,” Spaeny counters.
“Oh she did,” Melton says. “She’s a singer. Sing for us.”
“Guys, what are we doing?” Spaeny says, burying her caput successful her hands.
Whatever it is, we’re not stopping. We have, arsenic Melton notes overmuch to Spaeny’s chagrin, “caught a vibe.”
You 2 correspond antithetic generations ...
Melton: What? Excuse me?
Charles, you’re a millennial. Cailee is Gen-Z.
Spaeny: Oh my God. You’re truthful Gen-Z coded.
Melton: I’m a zillennial.
Spaeny: Did you consciousness similar determination was an property spread betwixt us?
Melton: I consciousness similar we’re the aforesaid age. You cognize I’m an aged soul. My exterior is conscionable goofy. Cailee is omniscient beyond her years.
What’s the biggest quality betwixt the 2 generations?
Melton: I deliberation the generations are much alike than different. As a millennial and zillennial, I’ve done my stock of weird self-diagnosing.
Spaeny: TikTok therapy for sure. Holding onto words that marque america consciousness much seen done the internet. The remark “I conscionable work the headline. I request to commencement speechmaking the articles.” It’s bittersweet but it’s true. And I deliberation everyone does it.
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1. Charles Melton. 2. Cailee Spaeny. (Erik Carter / For The Times)
Do you subordinate to your characters’ Gen-Z resentment that erstwhile generations screwed them over? “Everyone grabbed the container earlier we could.”
Spaeny: There was a clip erstwhile having a location by your 30s was guaranteed. Now, you’re having to take whether you privation to person children oregon enactment afloat successful your career. We’re each riddled with this feeling of the beingness we consciousness we merit ...
Melton: And what volition marque america happy. Ashley gets the promotion. But the societal ascent is ne'er enough. It’s “if you bash this thing, you’ll get the this thing.”
Spaeny: It’s the changeless chase.
You’ve some defied the likelihood and enjoyed palmy careers arsenic actors. Can you beryllium contented and beryllium with that?
Spaeny: We try. But it besides feels similar it’s acceptable up successful a mode wherever you can’t sit. You person to look for the adjacent happening due to the fact that if you wait, radical volition get bored with you. You’ll publication a occupation and hopefully it pays good and past you mightiness not enactment again for 2 years. It’s casual to beryllium successful a spot of desperation. Actors are besides people people-pleasers. So, unfortunately, I deliberation it was excessively casual for america to subordinate to our characters.
Melton: Maybe portion of your question, which led to your beauteous answer, is: Where’s acceptance? I’m a begetter now. Sometimes, I’m ace tired, but the champion happening is I get to work to my kid. Looking astatine beingness done a spot of abundance ... but that tin beryllium a pugnacious happening to do.
Spaeny: It’s not conscionable the amusement industry. I spell backmost location and I’m with my sister, who is an astonishing parent and shot mom. And you tin consciousness that itch wrong of radical backmost location too. Have I done capable for my children? Do I request to spell to much shot tournaments? Am I going to religion enough?
Melton: It’s everywhere. And nether the umbrella of people and healthcare and however costly everything is, it’s tough. The measure we had conscionable to person a babe was truthful ridiculous.
Spaeny: Oh yeah. My favourite enactment successful “Beef” was, “Do you cognize the 16-piece repast astatine KFC is $52.99 now?” That sums it up.
(Erik Carter / For The Times)
I looked that up. It’s true, though you tin get the 16-piece chicken-only repast for astir $37.
Melton: But you can’t conscionable devour the chicken. You person to person the sides and biscuits, right?
How astir Austin’s line: “All we request is each different ... and the beach.”
Melton: That’s what I emotion astir Austin, this optimism but considered to beryllium naivete. Really, astatine the extremity of the day, I’ll look astatine my spouse and I’ll look astatine my girl and beryllium like, “This is perfectly each I need.”
Spaeny: [Sighs] I would emotion to get to that point.
Melton: But past to enactment nutrient connected the table, you’re required to bash things that instrumentality you distant from the things that you accidental are each you need.
Spaeny: The large happening astir this amusement is that it’s zeroing successful connected mundane impossibilities of life, the things that should beryllium truthful simple, but thrust america each up the wall.
You some speech astir Midwest sensibility. Do your roots assistance crushed you?
Spaeny: I conscionable got backmost from location past night, and I ever consciousness a furniture gets peeled disconnected erstwhile I’m there. With work, I’m ever connected borderline and trying to clasp onto this happening that could beryllium taken distant from maine immoderate day. When I spell backmost home, I consciousness similar it tin truly beryllium that simple. But it doesn’t last. That’s the problem. The itch comes back.
There’s thing incorrect with a small ambition.
Spaeny: I’m uncovering ambition much and much unattractive these days. Maybe that’s maine conscionable getting older and wanting much extracurricular of the job.
Melton: We’ve talked astir this. If we’re ever going from 1 happening to the next, however tin I bring the humanity and psyche of my beingness into my work? If I had my way, I’d instrumentality 3 to six months disconnected betwixt jobs conscionable to unrecorded and enactment my feet connected the grass. Cailee and I link successful galore ways. I emotion your determination and thrust and passionateness for the work. Some radical privation to enactment similar they don’t care, but I deliberation it’s chill to care.
Timothée Chalamet does too, but helium got flack for saying that retired loud, that helium “wanted to beryllium 1 of the greats.”
Melton: I thought that was f— awesome. You privation to beryllium great? We each do.
Spaeny: It’s what each histrion is reasoning but they’re feigning ...
Melton: We emotion Chalamet implicit here.
Spaeny: Maybe helium didn’t accidental each the close things, but that speech, that’s wherefore we’re successful the building.
Melton: It’s precise overmuch the athlete’s mentality. Like Deion Sanders is 1 of the top of each time. “You look good, you consciousness good, you play good.”
It’s OK for an jock to accidental that, but if an histrion does, the satellite gives them grief.
Melton: That benignant of sincerity is the default successful Kansas and Missouri. You know, increasing up arsenic an athlete, I was beauteous good. I ran the 100-meter dash successful 10.9 seconds. Make definite you constitute that in. [Laughs] You person to person a vision. And the artists that talk connected that vision, that’s awesome. Visualization is essential. I wouldn’t beryllium present talking with 1 of my champion friends and 1 of the top actresses ever ...
Spaeny: What are you doing?!?
Melton: I’d alternatively springiness you flowers each time than speech astir what I think. All that to accidental is that I wouldn’t beryllium doing this if I did not person imaginativeness erstwhile I was successful Kansas to permission with $500 successful my pocket, 60 cans of chickenhearted noodle crockery and 60 cans of tuna. You person to dream.
Spaeny: A dollar and a dream!
I’ve got to ask. Sixty cans of chickenhearted noodle crockery connected a roadworthy trip? Do you conscionable popular the apical and down it cold?
Spaeny: Great question.
Melton: I’d conscionable instrumentality disconnected the apical and laic it successful the prima for 2 oregon 3 hours and it’s bully to go.
Spaeny: Please stop.
Melton: OK. I’d conscionable dip my digit successful it and due to the fact that I’m truthful hot, it conscionable boils.
Spaeny: You spot what I’m saying? He’s specified a dad.
(Erik Carter / For The Times)
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