In an interview with Variety, “Squid Game” creator, screenwriter and director Hwang Dong-hyuk discussed the physical impact of filming on his health…and shared some interesting facts about Season 2.
Characters 456, 218, and 067 weren’t the only ones to suffer in Squid Game. The creator of the Netflix phenomenon series, Hwang Dong-hyuk, thus revealed to variety having experienced complicated moments during the filming of the nine episodes of season 1, which he all wrote and directed.
After having chained the galleys, the refusals and the precariousness for almost ten years, the South Korean showrunner managed to convince the platform to bet on his project. However, the production and the pressure will be extremely difficult for him, who will confide in all transparency, at the end of season 1, on his exhaustion and the need to be better surrounded on a season 2.
Worse, he now reveals that he lost six teeth during filming (!) due to stress, without taking the time to consult a dentist (which he holds in horror). With a larger budget in season 2, and a salary worthy of the millions of viewings of the show around the world, he also admits with humor that he can order dental implants… before delivering a few snippets information on the new episodes, the writing of which has just begun.
Squid Game becomes a real reality show!
There will obviously be games – including new trials – and the return of the hero Seong Gi-hun (456) played by Lee Jung-jae, the masked man Hwang In-ho played by Lee Byung-hun, and potentially the recruiter portrayed by Gong Yoo. Above all, Hwang Dong-hyuk will work more specifically on writing to make it easier for international audiences to understand, after having noticed, by watching many videos of decryptions and fan reactions on Youtube, that certain elements obvious to Korean viewers had escaped subscribers from other countries.
Finally, if he remains evasive on a season 3 (he announces a probability of 50/50), Hwang Dong-hyuk reveals wanting to dig in and answer some unresolved questions in season 1: “There are little things left hanging throughout the first season, things that I didn’t wrap up and put aside for future expansion”. Will we therefore see the Squid Games organized by other countries, the existence of which the sinister VIPs suggested in one of the episodes? Probably not in season 2… but the showrunner suggests that international spin-offs have always been part of his vision.
The hidden details of “Squid Game” deciphered in the video below: