© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEARLY three years ago, when Squid Game released on Netflix, it received global acclaim and got its actors instant fame. Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, this South Korean series tells the story of a group of desperate contestants, who risk their lives to win a $45.6 billion cash prize in a mysterious but extremely-competitive survival game. When Squid Game: Season 2 releases on December 26, its protagonist Gi-hun, essayed by actor Lee Jung-Jae, will be on a mission to stop the game.
Season 1 ended with a cliffhanger as the winner of contest, Gi-hun, abandons his plans to go to the US to meet his daughter. Instead, now disillusioned, he is determined to find the people behind the game. Though the new season is set in the same world, the characters have undergone some physical and emotional changes. Gi-hun himself has given up his childish ways to become an angry man. This time, he’s much leaner, having being on a diet to stay true to his character’s transformation.
Talking about the show’s popularity, the Seoul-born actor believes he now has a lot of friends across the globe. “When I travel to other countries, people come up to me and ask me about Korea, about Squid Game and when Season 2 is coming out,” says Jung-Jae.
Also read – Squid Game Season 2 trailer: Gi-hun returns to start a rebellion, stop the menace. Watch
All three of them feel Squid Game changed the way the world looks at Korean films. Though Lee Byung-hun (Front Man) is not new to international projects, Wi Ha-joon, who plays the police detective Hwang Jun-ho, believes being part of the show is “an honour”.
Earlier, Byung-hun has appeared in Hollywood projects such as G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). “This time, however, it was meaningful in a different way because this is a Korean series based on Korean culture. It has received so much love. I’m proud to see that Korean content is now at a stage where it wins the hearts of fans all around the world,” he says.
With a set of new games and a darker tone, Squid Game: Season 2, is expected to explore human cruelties, complexities and compassion, all at once.
Ha-joon calls the character of Front Man one of his favourites on the show. “My character (Hwang Jun-ho) almost died. He barely made it alive. He now tries to track his brother down and also uncovers the truth about the game. So, he has a strong obsession and determination to make this happen. This has made him a stronger, tougher individual who is also very cold-blooded,” says Ha-joon.
In the first season, the audience barely got to see Byung-hun’s face because he was behind a mask. “In Season 1, Front Man plays the manager, monitoring the entire game. But in Season 2, he takes off his mask in many scenes. Also, there will be a long battle featured in the new series between Front Man and Gi-hun, who vows to take his revenge. So, no longer does he play a functional role, but he takes on a more active role,” says Byung-hun. This season will also unveil his character’s personal story, “which will answer many questions about him,” he adds.
‘The games had to be easy to understand for anyone from anywhere in the world’
Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who became the first Asian to win Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Squid Game (2021), is back with the much-awaited second season. He talks about the new season, which will have a set of new games and a darker narrative. Excerpts:
After the global success of Squid Game 1, did you feel the pressure while writing Season 2?
Yes, I did indeed. Because of the immense success of the first season, I was well aware of the high expectation of the subsequent season. So I tried my very best to make sure that I did not disappoint anyone.
The new season has new characters. How did you go about choosing all of them?
Some were sort of fleeting characters in S1. You might not remember them. I brought some of them back, the character Jeong-bae, for instance. And then there are completely new characters that are brought in for dramatic effect, such as the mother and son characters of Keum-ja and Yong-sik. There’s also another pair, Myeong-gi and Jun-hee, who were lovers once and are now separated. They’re going to add further drama to the story.
How did you choose the games for this season?
They are based on games I played as a child. It had to be the simplest, for everyone to play. But I sort of modified certain rules, sometimes to combine or divide certain games, so that it could fit into the world of Squid Game. Most importantly, all of the games had to be easy to understand for anyone from anywhere in the world.
