A version of this story about Hwang Dong-hyuk and “Squid Game” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
It’s been a little less than a year since the debut of Netflix’s smash hit “Squid Game,” and only from this distance are people beginning to understand the true scope of the show’s influence and registering that even if the series wasn’t the best of the season — which it very well might be — it was certainly the most important.
The facts have been recited endlessly but remain as impressive as ever. A whopping 1.65 billion viewing hours on Netflix during its first four weeks of streaming. The first non-English-language series and first Korean series to score nominations and wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The first non-English-language series ever recognized in either of the top two Emmy series categories, Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series. Best-ever recognition of Asian actors, with nominations for lead actor Lee Jung-jae, supporting actors Park Hae-soo and Oh Yeong-su, supporting actress Jung Ho-yeon and guest actress Lee You-mi.
Created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” is the ultimate survivor story, wherein deeply indebted citizens gamble their lives playing deadly versions of children’s games for the chance at winning a huge payout, all for the entertainment of the financial elite. What began as a screenplay written during South Korea’s 2008 debt crisis turned into a scathing indictment of capitalism, income inequality and man’s inhumanity to man, and people can’t get enough of it. So much so that Netflix has greenlit a non-lethal reality show version of the series—in addition to picking up “Squid Game” itself for a second season.
Perhaps the most profound thing the series has accomplished is its ability to shift people’s perception of what a successful, awards-caliber TV show is. It’s a similar shift to the one witnessed in the film industry several years ago, with the global success of another product of South Korea, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which earned $263.1 million at the box office and won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. Thanks to “Parasite” and predecessors like the Spanish-language “Roma,” the door is open for other, less standardized films to be celebrated.
With celebration comes exposure, and with exposure comes understanding — and through this new era in television and film, people can recognize the commonality of the human experience and the universal language of great storytelling. This makes “Squid Game” a valuable opportunity for connection, and no one understands that better than Hwang and his cast.
“We still don’t know a lot about each other,” actress Jung Ho-yeon said. “I think there are still so many misunderstandings about culture and country. And this is a time when we can learn from each other — not to divide us (but) to be more united.”
Lead actor Lee Jung-jae, whose character Seong Gi-hun serves as the audience’s window into the suffering and hopelessness of poverty, believes there’s a simple explanation for people’s ability to engage with the series. “All around the world, we see the gap between the rich and poor worsening by the day,” Lee said. “And I think that truly allowed for the global audience to easily relate to the story and the theme of ‘Squid Game.’”
Beyond that connectivity, there is also what the show’s success means for Korean entertainment in general, particularly in the wake of “Parasite” and the massive appreciation of K-pop within the music scene. “I hope that K-content and drama is not going to be something that people can just choose to watch. Hopefully it’s going to be a necessity, a must-watch,” actor Park Hae-soo said. “I truly hope this will lead to more content to come that’s going to be loved globally.”
Below, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk talks about creating Squid Game, and about the novel idea its success has given him for a new series.
“Squid Game” is a history-making global phenomenon. What has that experience been like for you?
It’s crazy. I’m even thinking about making a show based on what I’ve been through. Seriously, it’s called, like, “The Best Show on the Planet.” It’s going to be a 30-minute, eight-episode comedy.
The show ended up being a success to the extent that we had never imagined or expected, ever. I’m still stunned at times and I still think to myself, “What is happening?” and “What have I done?” I can’t believe the fact that we are a foreign-language series that’s being considered for the Emmys, our actors have gone to win such prestigious awards, and wherever I go, the global fans will come to me wanting pictures and autographs. There was a huge learning behind all of this. And ultimately, I think, at the end of the day, the biggest lesson was that I have to continue and never give up on what I believe in and what I believe will be good.
So many people had said “no” prior to making the show. The investors had challenges in financing, and the actors as well. I learned so much from that experience. Luckily, we can say that “Squid Game” has shown, not just to the United States but to the entire world, that a non-English language show can be a success to this degree. I’m also very grateful to say that, hopefully, we’ve opened some new doors, not just for the creators but for the audience as well, letting them know that great shows can be made and come from anywhere around the world. And that shows from anywhere around the world can be enjoyed by other people around the world. It’s very meaningful.
What do you think the universal appeal of this series is?
When I was creating this series, the one thing that I was always confident of was the fact that it’s an entertaining show. I said to myself, “People can say whatever they want about the show, criticize it all they want, but everyone is going to recognize the fact that it is entertaining.” I think it also had a very refreshing and original subject matter. We’ve all seen many survival game shows, but never one that brought in children’s games, particularly ones that people risk their lives playing. I think it has a universal appeal because we all have those experiences of playing children’s games growing up and we’re also all just so exhausted from this extremely competitive society.
In the second episode, “Hell,” the players involved vote to leave the game, as is their right. But I understand that particular element didn’t exist in your original screenplay. Tell me about incorporating that narrative and why that was important for you.
To be very honest with you, in my very first script, one of the things that I was really struggling with internally, because I didn’t have that voting element yet, was that everything came back to the idea that no matter what, the participants in the game are going to want to escape. So I thought to myself, “OK, how do we get rid of these people who want to escape the game?” And then I was thinking, “If we had a voting system where people are given a chance to go out and back to their realities, but realize that their realities are an even worse hell than it is inside the game, then wouldn’t they be willing to come back?” And if they were willing to come back, then I could indeed get rid of anyone who would dream of escaping the game.
It’s like in “The Matrix,” how the red pill makes you realize reality and the blue pill lets you stay inside. I thought that the people that are participating in the game are not really given a choice in a true sense. So it was an allegory of the extremely competitive society we live in. When they are given a chance to vote, they come to realize that the world within the game and their actual realities are not that different.
I wanted to give them this fantasy that you are free to do whatever you want, but really, at the end of the day, we’re all stuck in this system. I wanted to have that symbolism.
How did you go about transitioning from working in film to working in TV?
What I had to do was rush myself to do a study of Netflix series to see what the biggest differences were. I found that the most significant difference was needing to end each episode a certain way, in order to make viewers want to watch more. There were many points where you had to breathe. I had to think about what kind of cliffhanger to use so that viewers wanted to watch the next episodes. That was a new and very enjoyable challenge for me.
But the biggest challenge is the fact that it’s just so much longer than a feature film. The sheer amount of energy that goes into the workload, especially because I was doing it all on my own, was extremely challenging.
Read more from the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine here.
