Viewers may gasp, cringe or cringe as characters die in Netflix’s Squid Game, but those simulated deaths have a different effect on its creators, writers and directors. Instead, Hwang Dong-hyuk feels happy to see them go.
The show has a huge cast and Hwang says it was “really hard” to manage everyone on set.
Characters would die, Huang recalls telling the cast on their last day, “‘Oh! How sad! I won’t see you tomorrow, but I was always smiling inside.
The Squid Game season two premiered Thursday. It once again stars Lee Jung-jae and centers around a secret competition in South Korea that targets people in debt and the winner gets a huge cash prize. They don’t know that losing a game is fatal.
Huang originally conceived the show as a two-hour film 15 years ago, but it failed to gain traction with financiers or interested actors. He put it aside and worked in other films. He then considered making it a TV series and took the project to Netflix. There, it can reach a wider audience.
Read this also The Squid Game Season 2 Review: Netflix’s biggest series returns, full of twists but not as fast-paced as the first season
“I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be this big,” said Hwang, who spoke with the AP about the show and what’s next. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.
AP: What did you learn from the Squid Game?
Huang: I learned not to give up. If you like something and if you want to create something, it may not work now, but it may come later. Or that idea can be a source of inspiration for something else.
AP: You’ve already finished filming season three of Squid Game. Have you thought about what your next project will be?
Hwang: I’m afraid to talk about it but it’s a feature film set 10-20 years in the future. It’s darker than the Squid game. It’s going to be very brutal, very sad, but very weird and funny at the same time.
AP: What movies and TV shows do you enjoy?
Huang: I used to think you had to have a specific taste to be good, but I actually think I’m quite an omnivore. I like to watch anything. When I’m on the couch watching TV, sometimes I watch CNN or Fox News. And then National Geographic and nature documentaries, I also watch some very soapy Korean shows or reality TV. I walk around and see everything that happens in the world. With a series, I usually don’t stick with it all the way through. There are only about five shows that I watch to the end, like Breaking Bad and Who Kills Women.
AP: Have you ever wanted to direct an American production or Hollywood actors?
HWANG: Of course. I studied film school at the University of Southern California and there are so many people I love working with. I’ve had those offers since “Squid Game,” but since I’m a writer-director, I think I’m best when I’m working with Korean actors, directing in Korean with my Korean script. But, if I come across an amazing scrip, why not? I want to work with Jake Gyllenhaal.
AP: There are more characters in season two of The Squid Game. Why is that?
Hwang: With seasons two and three, I had a lot of screen time for a lot of characters. This time we have a lot of young characters. When I was creating the first season, I thought it was very difficult to be up to your neck in debt when you’re only in your 20s or 30s. I thought you had to be at least middle aged to need money and want to join the Squid game. But the world has changed. Now I feel that there are less decent jobs for the youth and even if they work hard they are not able to make it to the middle class. They want to hit the jackpot, so they invest in cryptocurrency. In Korea, there are many young people in their early 20s or 30s who gamble online. I want to show what society is really like today.
AP: Season two of The Squid Game has already been nominated for a Golden Globe which is a good sign. Can you tell us about season three of The Squid Game?
Hwang: It’s better than season two.
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