“Squid Game” Star Hoyeon Jung on Her Rapid Rise, BLACKPINK’s Jennie

Squid Game Season 2: Release date, cast and everything you need to know

What Squid Game’s fantasies and harsh realities reveal about Korea

A Korean filmmaker breaks down the themes of Netflix’s runaway hit.

By any measure, Netflix’s Squid Game is a runaway hit.

The Korean drama-slash-horror series about a battle royale conducted via children’s playground games — think Red Light, Green Light or tug of war but with a lot more blood — debuted on September 17 and became an instant sensation, rocketing to the top of Netflix’s most-viewed releases and generating memes across social media.

After barely three weeks on the platform, Squid Game has not only become the most popular Korean drama in Netflix’s history, but it’s on track to surpass Bridgerton as the most popular show in Netflix history.

Squid Game’s success is such a fantastic payoff for Netflix’s decision to invest $500 million in Korean entertainment in 2021 that it is causing the company’s stock to boom. That might be somewhat ironic given that Squid Game is all about socioeconomic divides, the exploitation of the poor by the rich, and the desperation of Korea’s financially destitute class of laid-off workers.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk came up with the idea for the show after years spent reading manga and manhwa (Japanese and Korean comics, respectively) with similar themes, including the influential horror satire Battle Royale, which kicked off the contemporary trend of ensemble casts battling each other to the death in elaborate high-stakes gaming arenas. He paired these concerns with the Korean entertainment industry’s ongoing interest in the socioeconomic plight of a growing number of downwardly mobile workers, once solidly middle class, who’ve found themselves forced into lower-paying jobs due to Korea’s changing economy and decreasing reliance on industry.

“Squid Game” Star Hoyeon Jung on Her Rapid Rise, BLACKPINK’s Jennie, and What’s Next

In the modeling world, Hoyeon Jung’s resumé is more than impressive. Hailing from Seoul, the now 27-year-old entered the industry as a young teenager. In 2013, at 19, she placed second on Korea’s Next Top Model.

That was but the start of a burgeoning career. In 2016, she landed her first major runway with Louis Vuitton, her freshly-dyed fiery red hair soon becoming her trademark. It was her international debut.

After that, she, maybe unknowingly, positioned herself as a staple in fashion weeks around the world, walking for the likes of Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Max Mara, Bottega Veneta, Chanel, Miu Miu, Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu, Jacquemus, Burberry, Gabriela Hearst… the list could go on for the entirety of this piece. And, yet, that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her achievements.

(On October 6, Louis Vuitton announced Hoyeon as its new global ambassador.)

Fashion might have placed Hoyeon on the map, but it’s her acting that has catapulted her to the stratosphere. In January 2020, now back to her natural brunette, it was revealed that Hoyeon had joined Saram Entertainment, a Korean talent agency that specializes in film and series. Shortly after, she would land her breakout role in Netflix’s most popular K-drama, Squid Game.

Squid Game | Official Trailer | Netflix

‘Squid Game”s Jung Ho-yeon on BLACKPINK’s Jennie: “I wondered how such an angel could exist”

The K-pop idol had visited Jung on set while filming the hit series

Squid Game actress Jung Ho-yeon has opened up about her close friendship with BLACKPINK member Jennie.

Jung has gained significant international recognition following her breakout role in Netflix’s Squid Game, which is well on its way to becoming the streaming platform’s “biggest show ever”. More notably, the show is also the model-turned-actress’ first acting role.

In a recent interview with Herald Pop, the actress opened up about her longtime friendship with the K-pop idol. “Jennie was happy for me ever since I told her I was cast in Squid Game,” said Jung, as translated by Soompi. “She sent me a coffee truck, and she actively cheered me on by even uploading to her social media.”

Why Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Is An Overnight Sensation

Squid Game | Behind the Scene | Netflix

Squid Game Season 1 Review

The Real-World Victims of Netflix’s Squid Game – IGN The Fix: Entertainment

Squid Game

Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama television series streaming on Netflix.

(Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim)

Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, it stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, O Yeong-su, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi and Kim Joo-ryoung.

The series, distributed by Netflix, was released worldwide on September 17, 2021.

The series centers on a contest where 456 players, drawn from different walks of life but each deeply in debt, play a set of children’s games with deadly consequences for losing for a chance to win a ₩45.6 billion prize. Hwang had conceived of the idea based on his own economic struggles early in life as well as the class disparity within South Korea. Though initially scripted in 2008, Hwang had been unable to find a production to support the script until Netflix around 2019 found interest as part of their drive to expand their foreign programming offerings.

Hwang wrote and directed all nine episodes himself. The show received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with praise for its perfomances, originality, atmosphere, and themes. Within a week, it became one of Netflix’s most-watched programs in several regional markets.

So what was your initial impression of Squid Game?

When I first started watching it, I was disgusted because it felt to me a violation of a certain kind of an innocent memory that I’ve got. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the director and writer, is basically the same age as me. Hwang is 50 years old. I came to the US when I was age 9 or 10, so I remember all of these games that are featured in the drama. I know my memories are very fond and intimate, and then to use it in such a violent way — not the violence itself, because I don’t get scared with the gory and bloody stuff — that felt to me like a violation. Of a certain kind of, I dunno, fondness and intimacy that you built surrounding these games.

I suspect the director wanted to evoke that kind of response.

Yeah. That’s the intention, right, that there is a certain notion of innocence that is being trampled upon. You can’t let go, you still cling on to those memories, and I think these memories of your youth and innocence are now obviously kind of permanently stained. So there’s that. But I get it. The end [of the series], I think, is trying to tell a moral tale that is probably not that different from something like Parasite that is basically a film that tries to critique the effects of new liberal capitalism and the violence and the ruthlessness and the cruelty that is associated with it.

Netflix’s Squid Game shows we’re ready for subtitles – just be sure to pick the right ones

Are you watching Squid Game? The hit Netflix show out of South Korea has quickly become a global phenomenon, taking on even the likes of Bridgerton as the most-watched show ever on the service.

The show’s twisted premise – a series of children’s games with heightened life-and-death stakes – alongside some gripping ensemble characterization, and a sharp look at the financial and class inequalities of South Korea, have captured the minds of audiences worldwide, and it’s not hard to see why.

But it’s worth dwelling for a moment on the how. It’s clearly a different streaming market than it was even a few years ago, with Netflix’s investment in locally-produced storytelling in regions around the world paying off in dividends.

Which is the best streaming service in 2021?
The best Netflix movies to stream right now
Squid Game season 2: will it happen?

The streaming service has seen hits emerge out of Brazil (3%), India (Indian Matchmaking), France (Lupin) and Spain (Money Heist) over the past few years. But Squid Game overtaking even Netflix’s English-language shows across the globe is a notable achievement indeed.

Creator of the Netflix hit show ‘Squid Game’ had to stop writing the script because he had to sell his laptop for $675 cash

The “Squid Game” creator once had to stop writing the show’s script after being forced to sell his laptop.

Hwang Dong-hyuk was also dismissed by several studios for 10 years for being too grotesque and unrealistic.

“Squid Game” made history becoming Korea’s first show to hit Netflix’s top trending spot in the US.

Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The creator of the Netflix hit “Squid Game” had to halt writing the script for the popular show after he was forced to sell his laptop for cash, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Korean survival drama series, which debuted on the streaming platform on September 17, centers around a group of adults struggling to pay off their debts playing Korean children’s games to win a cash prize of $45 billion won – about $40 million USD – but losing the seemingly trivial playground games has deadly consequences.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show’s creator and director, first came up with the idea while living with his mother and grandmother, but he had to stop writing the script at one point to sell his laptop for $675 in cash.

Netflix picked up the show two years ago, and since then, it has been subtitled in more than 30 languages and dubbed in 13 and is now trending number one in more than 90 countries, with about 95% of viewers being outside South Korea.

“Squid Game” also made history becoming Korea’s first show to hit Netflix’s top trending spot in the US.

But the show hasn’t always seen such roaring success since it was created. The concept was initially rejected for 10 years by several studios, which deemed the gory plotline as too grotesque and unrealistic, according to the Journal report.

Squid Game Season 2: Release date, cast and everything you need to know

The 2021 series that has taken the world by storm – Squid Game – could be back for a second series.

While the plot of the upcoming series is as of yet unknown, a few details have been released about Squid Game series two.

Even the renewal for a second series is merely speculation, as director and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk recently stated that he had no intention of doing a second part for now, since the creative process was very exhausting.

However, Netflix’s powers of persuasion are infamous, especially when it comes to shows that became such a success.

When is the release date for the second series of Squid Game?

It remains very likely that the show will release a second series in the latter half of 2022.

Squid Game Cast

Since most of the characters in Squid Game have already died, the number of returning characters will likely be limited.

Lee Jung-jae and Gong Yoo, the man who recruited participants at the train station, will most likely feature for a second series.

Fans are also expecting a surprise from BTS group member, Jin.

There has been speculation that he may appear in the hit show’s second series.

As the winner of the first series, Gi-hun is a possibility to return, after Sang-Woo’s decision to end his life in the battle arena.

Translators, experts weigh in on ‘Squid Game’ subtitle debate

For bilingual Korean speakers watching “Squid Game” with English subtitles or closed captions, some aspects of the dystopian series felt lost in translation.

Like so many people around the world, Youngmi Mayer recently binged Netflix’s survival drama “Squid Game.” The comedian and co-host of the podcast Feeling Asian, who is fluent in Korean, vented some of her frustrations on TikTok last week over what she believed were the English subtitles for “Squid Game” in a video that’s since racked up more than 10 million views.

In one of Mayer’s widely viewed videos, she said the brash character Han Mi-nyeo’s dialogue is “botched” and sterilized. When the actor tries to convince other players to play a game with her, the caption states, “I’m not a genius, but I still got it work out,” but Mayer said what she actually said was, “I am very smart. I just never got a chance to study.”

For some bilingual and multilingual Korean speakers watching “Squid Game” with English subtitles or closed captions, aspects of the dystopian series felt lost in translation. But experts also point out translation is an art form, one that’s often underappreciated, underpaid and limited by industry practices.

Behind the Global Appeal of ‘Squid Game,’ a Country’s Economic Unease

The dystopian Netflix hit taps South Korea’s worries about costly housing and scarce jobs, concerns familiar to its U.S. and international viewers.

In “Squid Game,” the hit dystopian television show on Netflix, 456 people facing severe debt and financial despair play a series of deadly children’s games to win a $38 million cash prize in South Korea.

Koo Yong-hyun, a 35-year-old office worker in Seoul, has never had to face down masked homicidal guards or competitors out to slit his throat, like the characters in the show do. But Mr. Koo, who binge-watched “Squid Game” in a single night, said he empathized with the characters and their struggle to survive in the country’s deeply unequal society.

Mr. Koo, who got by on freelance gigs and government unemployment checks after he lost his steady job, said it is “almost impossible to live comfortably with a regular employee’s salary” in a city with runaway housing prices. Like many young people in South Korea and elsewhere, Mr. Koo sees a growing competition to grab a slice of a shrinking pie, just like the contestants in “Squid Game.”

Those similarities have helped turn the nine-episode drama into an unlikely international sensation. “Squid Game” is now the top-ranked show in the United States on Netflix and is on its way to becoming one of the most-watched shows in the streaming service’s history. “There’s a very good chance it will be our biggest show ever,” Ted Sarandos, a co-chief executive at Netflix, said during a recent business conference.

Culturally, the show has sparked an online embrace of its distinct visuals, especially the black masks decorated with simple squares and triangles worn by the anonymous guards, and a global curiosity for the Korean children’s games that underpin the deadly competitions. Recipes for dalgona, the sugary Korean treat at the center of one especially tense showdown, have gone viral.

Is Squid Game all in Korean?

“It’s not limited to English and Korean, but between English and Japanese, or even between Korean and Chinese,” she said. “There are always things that can’t be translated perfectly.”

What is the Squid Game Candy?

dalgona

Also known as ppopgi, dalgona is a crackly, honeycomb-like candy popular in South Korea and prominently featured in the Netflix show “Squid Game.”

What are the games in Squid Game?

The Squid Game games, ranked by how utterly terrifying they are

Pog/Ddakji.
Marbles.
Ppopgi/Honeycomb Candy.
Red Light, Green Light.
Squid Game.
Tug of War.
Glass Stepping Stone Bridge.

Is Squid Game a drama?

Squid Game is currently the No 1 Netflix show worldwide. The Korean drama, starring Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, O Yeong-su, Wi Ha-joon and Jung Ho-yeon, has now caught the attention of Jeff Bezos. … Korean survival drama Squid Game, which is taking the world by storm, has even attracted ex-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Where is Squid Game from?

South Korea
Squid Game writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk has said his series is an allegory for modern capitalist society. And his cast of misfits are people who don’t fit into the high-tech narrative of what South Korea has become since its poverty-stricken decades during and after the Korean War.

Is Squid Game dystopian?

In “Squid Game,” the hit dystopian television show on Netflix, 456 people facing severe debt and financial despair play a series of deadly children’s games to win a $38 million cash prize in South Korea.

What is a Squid Game cookie?

In Squid Game, contestants must carve shapes like circles, stars, and triangles into a piece of honeycomb toffee without letting it break. So Lynja tries it too. She uses a cookie cutter to no avail. … This one includes five different metal frames to help you craft the perfect star, triangle, circle, or umbrella.

Is Squid game real life?

The ‘Squid Game’ Games Are Based on Real-Life Children’s Games. The Korean and international games have taken over social media. … Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Variety that he took inspiration from the games he played in his own childhood, and kept the rules simple so that the show could focus on the characters.