One article described Beiste as a "wounded giant—a 40-year-old who'd never been kissed", and Jones's portrayal of him as "humorous and heart-wrenching". Jones had previously worked with "Glee" co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk on &lt;a href="Nip/Tuck"&gt;Nip/Tuck&lt;/a&gt;, and when she encountered Falchuk at a local supermarket she says she told him, Write me something', just joking, you know, but not really." Still, she was shocked to hear from her agent two months later that Murphy had done so. She knew very little about the role initially: "When I signed my contract, it didn't even have a character name—just two quotation marks." In her acting career, Jones has "played every tough chick possible", and in early 2012 described the role of Beiste as one "where I still get to be the tough coach, but be vulnerable, have heart and have a love interest". Jones received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Beiste in "Glee" second season, and submitted her performance in the episode "Never Been Kissed" for final judging. She was one of three actresses from the show to be nominated in that category in 2011; the victor was another "Glee" nominee, Gwyneth Paltrow. She was also part of the "Glee" cast ensemble that was nominated in December 2011 for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series award at the 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, Jones was nominated for an Emmy again, the only actor from "Glee" nominated that year.