‘Squid Game’ star teases “genius” new season

Squid Game star has described the new season as “genius” in a new interview.

• READ MORE: ‘Squid Game’ review: child’s play turns deadly in a cutting critique of late-stage capitalism

The new trailer for the highly anticipated second season of the new show arrived last week (October 31), over three years after season one ended. The dystopian series follows a competition in which contestants play a series of children’s games hoping to win a life changing cash prize. However, those who fail to complete the tasks are killed.

Actor Lee Jung-jae’s character Gi-hun returns for season two and in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about getting the script for season one, saying: “I didn’t think that he [creator Hwang Dong-hyuk] would write it that fast, I really doubted he could do that”

He then went on to describe how impressed he was with it, adding: “And when I actually read [them] I thought, ‘This is immaculate, there’s absolutely nothing that needs to be changed.’ It was so well-written and I was just in awe of this talent thinking, ‘This man’s a genius.’”

He also revealed how his character changes dramatically between the two seasons, saying: “The way you see Gi-hun in season one and the state that you see him in in season two are very different.”

Lee went on to say that returning to set with an almost entire new cast, was “so strange.” Season two of Squid Game will introduce a huge cast of new characters as another set of contestants enter the games. Newcomers include idol-actors like T.O.P, Jo Yu-ri and Yim Si-wan (Strangers from Hell), Kang Ha-neul (Forgotten), Park Gyu-young (Celebrity) and more.

Speaking about this experience, he added: “for season one, so many colleagues and cast mates poured our hearts and souls into it, and then with each round of the games, we had to say goodbye to so many people. So all of those memories came back very vividly and also within the story — because so many characters had died on that set, it was almost like I was being pulled back to hell. And I think I could truly feel what the director had intended for me and my character, where, the moment I stepped onto the set, I felt like I really wish more people would make it out alive this time.”

Last week, fans were reacting to the latest trailer online, saying they “can’t wait” for it to arrive while also pleading with Netflix to end the show after season two even though back in August, Netflix confirmed that the series will return for its third and final season in 2025.

In other news, David Fincher is reportedly set to develop an English-language version of Squid Game for Netflix.

The Fight Club and Gone Girl director has been rumoured to be involved with the dystopian show for several months, with Deadline recently reporting that he is “likely” to be committing his time to its English language incarnation in 2025.

This would represent the first scripted spin-off from Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean original, which debuted on the streaming service in 2021. The show instantly became a pop culture juggernaut and even spawned a reality competition in 2023.

Squid Game season two arrives exclusively on Netflix on December 26.

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