Netflix’s “Squid Game” may take the “winner takes all” mantra to extremes, but when it comes to scoring a role on the streamer’s mega-hit series, there’s no greater victory for up-and-coming actors. The survival drama debuted in 2021 and instantly became a smash hit with audiences and critics alike. Both Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun) and Lee Yoo-mi (Ji-yeong) took home Emmys for their performances.
Now with Season 2 officially around the corner, those interested in learning more about “Squid Game” have come to the right place. In this in-depth guide, we share everything we know about “Squid Game” Season 2 (and 3!), as well as share audition advice from the show’s standout talents. While we don’t want anyone fighting it out to the death, we do want performers to have the tools they’ll need to come out on top in the audition room if the opportunity arises.
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“Squid Game” Season 1 laid the groundwork for the show’s deadly premise, introducing viewers to 456 players who, bound by financial hardship, are invited to participate in a secret series of children’s games to secure the contest’s 45.6 billion won prize. In a dystopian South Korea, Seong Gi-hun finds himself pulled into the games, as his gambling debts make him a prime candidate. Despite the life-changing prize money, losers quickly learn they must pay with their life. Yet while Gi-hun (spoiler alert!) ultimately wins and appears to be headed to the U.S. to visit his daughter, he spies a recruiter inviting someone to the next iteration of the traumatic competition and vows to end the games before they can begin again.
"Squid Game" Season 2 premieres on Netflix on December 26, 2024. According to the streamer's official synopsis, the new season "raises the stakes, with Lee Jung-jae reprising his role as Seong Gi-hun, also known as Player 456. With a hardened demeanor and the scars of past games, Gi-hun is on a desperate mission to expose the deadly truth of the competition. Yet, his warnings go unheeded, and tensions rise as fellow players question his intentions."
Watch the "Squid Game" season 2 trailer here:
Hwang Dong-hyuk created “Squid Game,” and the survival drama also spawned a hit reality series, “Squid Game: The Challenge,” which (of course) doesn’t kill off its contestants but does offer a real-life $4.56 million prize.
Season 1 of “Squid Game” starred:
- Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun
- Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo
- Yasushi Iwaki as Others
- Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho
- Lee Yoo-mi as Ji-yeong
- Jung Ho-Yeon as Kang Sae-byeok
- Oh Yeong-su as Oh Il-nam
- Heo Sung-tae as Jang Deok-su
- Anupam Tripathi as Ali Abdul
- Jeon Young-soo as Game Guide
- Tom Choi as Front Man
- Lee Byung-hun as Front Man
- Kim Joo-ryung as Han Mi-nyeo
- Kim Byeong-cheol as Instructions Guard
- Halley Kim as Mi-Ok
- Greg Chun as Seong Gi-hun (English voiceover actor)
- Stephen Fu as Cho Sang-woo (English VO actor)
- Vivian Lu as Kang Sae-byeok (English VO actor)
- Rama Vallury as Ali Abdul (English VO actor)
- Hideo Kimura as Oh Il-nam (English VO actor
- Paul Nakauchi as Jang Deok-su (English VO actor)
- Donald Chang as Hwang Jun-ho (English VO actor
- Stephanie Komure as Han Mi-nyeo (English VO actor)
Many of the show’s original characters were killed as part of the series’ deadly premise. Variety confirmed that Season 2 will include an expanded cast (although their characters are still under wraps):
- Im Si-wan
- Kang Ha-neul
- Park Gyuyoung
- Lee Jin-uk
- Park Sung-hoon
- Yang Dong-geun
- Kang Ae-sim
- Lee David
- Choi Seung-hyun
- Roh Jae-won
- Jo Yuri
- Won Ji
As of now, Season 3’s cast is being kept under wraps.
Abdelrahman N. Fawzy (“Lucifer”) helped cast Netflix’s “Squid Game.”
While Lee Jung-jae has been part of the entertainment industry for decades, joining “Squid Game” was a long time coming, skyrocketing him to superstardom beyond South Korea. According to the Guardian, Lee had no interest in entertainment during his younger days, but the designer Ha Yong-soo saw him working in a cafe as a teen and recruited him as a model, which soon led to television commercials. “I got this chocolate commercial, which was a huge hit in Korea,” Lee noted, “which led to me being cast in a TV show called ‘Feelings.’ ”
The Seoul native became an overnight success on his home turf, but his role in 1994’s “The Young Man” made Lee realize he knew nothing about the craft. “I was totally unprepared to be an actor, thrown on set headfirst with no idea how to do it,” he said. “It wasn’t fun. It was a horrific experience for me, and I was terrified. I realized I needed to study the craft. So I went to university, got my undergraduate degree, then a master’s. Whenever I had time, I worked with an acting coach. I needed to learn properly.” After all, as Lee told British GQ, “I know now that working hard is not the only important thing. You need to understand what you want to express and how you want to express it.”
Years later, when Hwang’s script crossed his path, Lee jumped at the chance to work with the renowned director. “Director Hwang’s work has always been very, very interesting to me,” Lee told the Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve been wanting to work with the director himself. And then once I finally got the script for ‘Squid Game,’ it was unique and the characters have all this depth. I really wanted to work on the project.”
However, Lee prepared for the role in a way that might seem uncharacteristically calm when readying for such an intense drama. “When I was preparing for another role, I actually just walked. That’s what I did; that was my preparation,” he said. “So for this character, I walked through the Korean markets, and that really helped me prepare for the character emotionally—being able to observe everyday life and everyday people at the market.”
Similarly, Hoyeon began her career as a model and decided acting was the perfect medium for her. “I had all these emotions I thought I wasn’t supposed to express,” Hoyeon told GQ. “But in acting, you can express all kinds of things. I wanted to express my stress, my anger, my sadness,” noting she perceives acting as “almost like a form of mental therapy.” So, as the outlet noted, the future breakout star enrolled in some acting classes and signed with an agent as her contract with the modeling agency expired. Two weeks later, Hoyeon landed her first audition: “Squid Game.” “I auditioned. I was a huge fan of director Hwang, and it was such an honor that I was cast,” Jung told the Hollywood Reporter.
Hwang could not stop singing her praises to GQ. “She was like a jaguar in the Amazon. When we met in person, I was fully convinced she was perfect for the role of Sae-byeok,” he gushed. “Her fighter-like aura that she carries with her whole body, the slightly gender-neutral voice, and her eyes that seemed like she wasn’t showing all of her emotions—that was exactly what I was looking for.”
Currently, there are no open casting calls available for “Squid Game.” But if you’re interested in living out “Squid Game” in a reality TV setting (minus the whole death thing), “Squid Game: The Challenge” is now casting Season 2—and our in-depth guide features everything you need to know about getting cast.
You should also explore our guide on how to audition for Netflix as you prep for future opportunities.
Always strive to do better. Lee Jung-jae has decades of experience as an actor under his belt; but as he told us, he never takes jobs for granted. Instead, he learns from both his successes and failures in an effort to improve. “With every project, I tend to think to myself, This might just be my last one,” he said. “And I think the reason for that is because I always want to do better, but it doesn’t always feel like I’ve achieved that with each work. And I especially don’t feel that way during the filming process. I feel like I try to do my best, but it’s just really not. It doesn’t feel sufficient.” Each role presents an opportunity to challenge yourself, whether you secure the job or not—and even rejection can become acceptance if you use the feedback to hone your craft.
Hold tight to your roots. Everyone must start somewhere, and as Hoyeon told GQ, maintaining an air of humility empowers her to keep growing as a performer. “In Korea, we have a saying: As rice ripens, it bows its head,” she said. “It means that [even as you succeed,] you really have to continue to stay humble. There is a part of me that continues to lean into that self-deprecation because I know that that’s how I’m going to get better and push myself forward to grow.”
Using her experience as a model has only helped her excel. “Starting my modeling career, I think I was 17. [Because of that,] I have a way of dealing with my anxiety,” she told us. “I have my way of getting rid of the pressure quickly. That helps. Being surrounded by many people and doing your thing, you have to have concentration. I got used to that because of my modeling career. That’s very effective for acting.”
