The South Korean TV show Squid Game (Korean: 읤줠얃 게잁), Also Known As: The Squid Game, Cuttlefish Game, Squid Games, Round Six, Ojingeo Geim, Round, 오징어게임, Squid Game Season 1 was made by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung are some of the star cast.
The show is based on a secret competition where 456 players, all of whom are having a hard time with money, risk their lives to play a number of dangerous children’s games in order to win a ₩45.6 billion prize. The name of the show comes from the name of a Korean children’s game with the same name.
Hwang came up with the idea after going through hard times with money and thinking about the differences between classes in South Korea and capitalism.
Even though Hwang wrote the story in 2009, he couldn’t get a production company to back it until around 2019—when Netflix became interested as part of their plan to offer more foreign shows.
The worldwide release of Squid Game on September 17, 2021, got great reviews and interest from all over the world. More than 142 million member households and 1.65 billion watching hours in its first four weeks made it Netflix’s most-watched series and program in 94 countries. It beat out Bridgerton as the service’s most-watched show.
Profile
| Drama | Squid Game (Season 1) |
| Hangul | 오징어 게임 |
| Director | Hwang Dong-Hyuk |
| Writer | Hwang Dong-Hyuk |
| Network | Netflix |
| No of Episodes | 9 |
| Release Date | September 17, 2021 |
| Runtime | Friday |
| Duration | 60 Minutes (Each Episode) |
| Language | Korean |
| Country | South Korea |
Squid Game (TV Series 2021): Story
Seong Gi-Hun, played by Lee Jung-Jae, loses his job. His life is terrible. Seong Gi-Hun learns about a hidden survival game with a 45.6 billion won prize. He makes up his mind to play the game. Also, Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae-Soo) is like a brother to Seong Gi-Hun and the same goes for Cho Sang-Woo.
They lived in the same area as kids. Cho Sang-Woo finished from a well-known university and got a good job, even though he came from a poor family. He is now in a tough spot because someone stole company money. He and Seong Gi-Hun decide to play the secret survival game.
Squid Game (TV Series 2021): Cast
Main Characters:
1) Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (Player No. 456)
Lee Jung-jae is a South Korean actor and director who was born in Seoul on December 15, 1972. He has won many awards, including a Primetime Emmy, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics’ Choice Television Award, six Baeksang Arts Awards, and bids for a Golden Globe Award and a Gotham Award.
He is thought to be one of the most successful actors in South Korea. There are many types of movies that Lee has been in. These include romantic movies like “Il Mare” (2000) and “Over the Rainbow” (2002), the Dogme 95 movie “Interview” (2000), the melodrama “Last Present” (2001), popular comedies like “Oh! Brothers” (2003), action movies like “The Last Witness” (2001) and “Typhoon” (2005), heist movies like “The Thieves” (2012) and “New World” (2013), and period films like “The Face Reader” (2013).
Lee became famous all over the world for his part as Seong Gi-hun, the main character in Netflix’s survival drama “Squid Game” in 2021. Lee is also a businessman. He started a chain of restaurants in Seoul and has also started a number of other companies, such as the development company Seorim C&D. He owns a few businesses with Jung Woo-sung, an actress and close friend.
2) Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo (Player No. 218)
Park Hae-soo is an actor and director from South Korea. He was born on November 21, 1981, in Suwon, Gyeonggi. Most people know him for his part as Cho Sang-woo in the Netflix show “Squid Game” (2021). For this play, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Park got his start in the theater, and he has had many lead and supporting parts in plays and musicals. Following this, he moved on to work in movies and TV shows. “Prison Playbook” (2017–2018), one of the most popular Korean plays on cable TV, was his big break. He has also worked with Netflix on many projects, such as “Time to Hunt” (2020), “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations” (2022), and “Narco-Saints” (2022).
3) Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho (Police Officer)
Wi Ha-joon is an actor and model from South Korea. He was born on August 5, 1991, in Wando County, South Jeolla. In 2015, the movie “Coin Locker Girl” was his first role. Wi became famous all over the world for his part as Hwang Jun-ho in the Netflix show “Squid Game” (2021).
A few of the TV shows he has been in are “Something in the Rain” (2018), “Romance Is a Bonus Book” (2019), “18 Again” (2020), “Little Women” (2022), and “The Worst of Evil” (2023). The movies “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (2018), “Shark: The Beginning” (2021), and “Midnight” all star Wi. Wi was named one of GQ Korea’s Men of the Year in 2022. Wi is connected to MSTeam Entertainment at the moment.
4) Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok (Player No. 67)
Jung Ho-yeon is a model and actress from South Korea. She was born in Seoul on June 23, 1994. She became a model on her own in 2010 and walked in shows during Seoul Fashion Week for two years.
The fourth season of “Korea’s Next Top Model” aired in 2013 and she came in second place. Jung walked her first foreign show during New York Fashion Week. Her “fiery” red hair made her famous. She was only available at Louis Vuitton in 2016 and will represent the company around the world from 2021 on.
In 2021, Jung made her playing debut in the Netflix show “Squid Game” as Kang Sae-byeok. She became the show’s breakout star, receiving praise from critics all over the world.
She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her work on the show.
5) O Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam (Player No. 1)
One Yeong-su was born on October 19, 1944, in Kaepung County, Gyeonggi, Japanese Korea. He is a South Korean actor. His acting career started in the 1960s, and he has been in more than 200 plays, movies, and TV shows.
Because he has done so many Buddhist shows, O is known for playing monks. Among the movies he’s been in are “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring” (2003), “The Attorney” (2013), and “Squid Game” (2021).
His part as Oh Il-nam in “Squid Game” made him famous all over the world and earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
6) Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su (Player No. 101)
Heo Sung-tae is a South Korean actor who was born in Busan on October 20, 1977. His famous part as Player #101 in the hit Netflix show “Squid Game” is one of more than sixty movies and TV shows he has been in.
Heo became famous across the country in the 2016 period thriller “The Age of Shadows.” Since then, he has been in movies like “The Fortress,” “The Outlaws,” and “Hunt.” “Your Honor” and “The Worst of Evil” are just a few of the TV shows that Heo has been in.
Before he became an actor, he worked for LG Corporation selling TVs in Russia. After that, he joined the planning and organizing department of a shipbuilding company. Heo is connected to Hanahreum Company at the moment.
7) Anupam Tripathi as Ali Abdul (Player No. 199)
Anupam Tripathi is an Indian actor based in South Korea. In India, he was born on November 2, 1988. Tripathi became interested in acting after he played a slave in a play based on the book Spartacus.
Since 2006 to 2010, he was a part of Shahid Anwar’s Behroop acting group. Since 2006, Tripathi has been learning how to sing and act. In 2010 he went to South Korea to go to the Korea National University of Arts on an Arts Major Asian scholarship. He had planned to go to the National School of Drama in New Delhi.
Tripathi has been in a number of South Korean movies and TV shows like King the Land (2023). He became famous all over the world for his first lead part as Ali Abdul in Netflix’s South Korean survival drama series “Squid Game” (2021).
8) Kim Joo-ryoung (Player No. 212)
Kim Joo-ryoung is a South Korean actress who was born in Seoul on September 10, 1976. The part she played as Han Mi-nyeo, also known as Player No. 212, in the Netflix original web series “Squid Game” made her famous. Kim has also been in a number of movies, including “Memories of Murder” (2003) and “SF8” (2020).
Recurring Cast:
- Yoo Sung-joo as Byeong-gi (Player No. 111)
- Kim Si-hyun as Player 244
- Lee Yoo-mi as Ji-yeong (Player No. 240)
- Lee Sang-hee as Do Jung-soo (Player No. 017)
- Kim Yun-tae as Player 69
- Park Hye-jin as Sang-woo’s mother
- Kwak Ja-hyoung as Player 278
- Lee Ji-ha as Player 070
- Christian Lagahit as Player 276
- Cho Ah-in as Seong Ga-yeong
- Kim Young-ok as Oh Mal-soon
- Kang Mal-geum as Kang Eun-ji
- Park Si-wan as Kang Cheol
Guest Cast:
- Gong Yoo as a salesman
- Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho (The Front Man)
- Lee Jung-jun as Guard
- John D Michaels as VIP #1
- Daniel C Kennedy as VIP #2
- David Lee as VIP #3
- Geoffrey Giuliano as VIP #4
- Stephane Mot as VIP #5
- Michael Davis as VIP #6
Season 2 Cast:
- Im Si-wan
- Park Sung-hoon
- Kang Ha-neul
- Yang Dong Geun
- Kang Ae-shim
- Jo Yu-ri
- Lee David
- Choi Seung-hyun
- Lee Jin-wook
- Won Ji-an
- Roh Jae-won
- Park Gyu-young
Why I Watch This TV Series?
Here are some reasons why people watch Squid Game 2021:
- That show is a South Korean future series that mixes violent video games with money and violence.
- The idea of the show is that 456 people who are deeply in debt have been picked to play dangerous versions of classic children’s games in order to win 45.6 million won, which is about $38.4 million USD.
- A deadly mix of “The Hunger Games,” “Black Mirror,” and “Parasite” has been used to describe the show.
- People can focus more on the characters than on the complicated rules of the games because they are simple and easy.