In the 2022 Netflix present The Glory, Park Sung-hoon, who performs bratty inheritor Jeong Jae-joon, is consistently stomping round and screaming alternative expletives at the folks round him. While Sung-hoon got here in for a lot crucial approval for bringing alive a really vile character on display screen, he quickly adopted this up with Queen of Tears, the place he as soon as once more performed the antagonist.
While this trajectory appeared to be heading towards one other gifted actor getting caught in a groove, what adopted subsequent was a shocking but welcome deviation from this path — Sung-hoon taking on the position of the seemingly soft-spoken Cho Hyun-joo, a transwoman who participates in the lethal video games in Season 2 of Squid Game.
“As you said, I was known for playing a lot of villain roles, but this character came to me as a very pleasant gift. Before I got stuck in a box, it was an opportunity to do something completely different,” says Sung-hoon, talking to The Hindu forward of the launch of the much-anticipated third and final Season of Squid Game.
While his casting—as a male actor essaying the position of a transwoman—raised many eyebrows initially, the aftermath of the second season noticed Sung-hoon additionally are available for a lot crucial acclaim. Trans characters are sometimes decreased to crude stereotypes and lack nuance. However, Hyun-joo, who participates in the video games to boost cash for her gender-affirming surgical procedure, is, fortunately, not decreased to a caricature on the present. Sung-hoon himself is fast to acknowledge the considerations he had going into the present.
Heart of metal
Battling a poisonous ex-boyfriend and navigating the lethal video games whereas pregnant, Jun-hee most likely has the hardest time of all of them. Singer and actress Jo Yu-ri says that whereas she did really feel a lot stress taking on this position as her onscreen debut in Season 2, she quickly turned her focus completely to getting the character proper. “I think Jun-hee makes everyone’s hearts melt and break,” she laughs. Vulnerable and but with a coronary heart of metal, Jun-hee forges a bond together with her co-contestants Hyun-joo and Heum-ja, which makes for a few of the finest moments of the present. “Not only on the show, I was reliant on actors Park Sung-hoon and Kang Ae-sim through the filming as well and enjoyed working with them through both seasons,” she says. When requested what sport was the most fascinating to movie, she says that whereas all the video games have been lethal and difficult, there’s a sport arising on Season 3 that she discovered particularly emotional in addition to difficult.
“I had my worries about myself being a cis-gendered actor playing a transgender character, but what I really wanted to do was not reduce her to stereotypes. She has so many great qualities — she is selfless, cares about others, has charisma, is brave and righteous,” he says, waxing eloquent about Hyun-joo. “Instead of imitating gestures or voice tones, I wanted to focus on these redeeming qualities she has as a person and wanted to portray her as a layered character through how she looks at other people, how her attitude is towards other people and how she treats them,” Sung-hoon explains, including that he additionally interviewed transpersons, acquired recommendation from them and did his personal analysis.
In the aftermath of a failed revolt, Season 3 will see Hyun-joo as soon as once more thrust into the video games. As Player 120, she emerges a reliable but large-hearted contestant in the second season, watching out for her fellow contestants and managing to excel in lots of video games. In maybe one in every of the most magnetic scenes on the present, Hyun-joo takes everybody without warning when she picks up a gun and instructs a bunch of males on the way to cost ahead as they try and put an finish to the video games, revealing her previous as a soldier.
“I also remember when filming the rebellion, what really took us by surprise is that all the men there were skilled with gunfight. In South Korea, all men have to serve in the military and it was rather funny that we were all skilled with guns,” Sung-hoon recollects.
The unrelenting search
For Wi Ha-jun, detective Jun-ho’s frustrations as he searches the land, skies and seas for the lethal island made him immerse himself much more deeper into the position. “Just like how Jun-ho was doing things his way, I was very determined to stay steadfast and strong till the end,” he says, of the search that continues in Season 3 of the present. Recalling how he learn the script for Season 1 in a single sitting, Ha-jun says he was excited to learn how the present would come alive on display screen. “Now that we are days away from Season 3, I am thankful for all the love and support from the global audiences. It is good entertainment, and has a lot of suspense, but on top of that, delivers a social message and theme that many viewers across the world can resonate with.”
In the run-up to the season’s launch, Sung-hoon has been strolling international purple carpets and collaborating in whirlwind press excursions together with actors Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae, Jo Yu-ri, Im Si-wan, Kang Ae-sim and director Hwang Dong-hyuk.
While we wait to see what occurs to Hyun-joo in Season 3, the character has impacted Sung-hoon’s life in additional methods than one, leaving followers desperate to see what his subsequent position can be.
“After doing The Glory, people used to call me Jung Jae-joon after my character in that but now, everyone calls me ‘eonnie’ (sister in Korean). I am very happy,” he chuckles.
Squid Game Season 3 streams on Netflix from June 27
