We caught up with Emmy and SAG Award winner Lee Jung-jae to talk about “Squid Game” season 2. Sometimes a translator makes these interviews go faster than you’d think, so here’s our five-question conversation, a quick read, with a nice tease for the upcoming, final season 3.
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The Playlist: The first season was a big hit, and there was a cliffhanger teasing more. What were you hoping for G-hun to go through in his second season?
Lee Jung-jae: Yeah, so there was a three-year hiatus between seasons one and two. If it were serialized from the very beginning, we usually would have a year hiatus between seasons, but it was created as a limited phase at first. So, because there’s that long hiatus, I just hope that viewers would watch season two, feeling like there hasn’t been a long hiatus, but it’s just back after a short one-year hiatus. So, I wanted season two to be very impactful. I thought long and hard about what Gi-hun should go through in order to create that impact for the viewers. So, I really just wanted it to be worth the wait for the viewers who waited three years for a second season.
READ MORE: Director Hwang teases “half happy, half sad” ending for “Squid Game” [Interview]
Did Director Hwang tell you where the show would end before you began filming seasons two and three?
Of course, I had the entire script for both seasons, so I knew how it was going to end before going to shoot for season two.
Many viewers would be surprised that your character would return to play the games again. Why do you think he is so fixated on trying to go back? Why is it important to him to return?
I believe that people sometimes don’t need a grand reason to do something. Maybe it could be the smallest things that can trigger very big moments for some people. So to Gi-hun, this could be something that’s minor to other people, but that was the biggest reason for him to go back to the games. So, in season one, the backstory of Gi-hun is that he used to work at a place, and he got fired very unfairly, unjustly. So, he thinks about where are the protections for the marginalized people and for the have-nots like myself. And when he goes into Squid Game, he [wonders] who are these organizers? Are they the rich, are they the powerful? Who are they? Because they’re the same people, but they’re doing these filthy, unjust things to people. So, he is fixated on stopping them. And I think his emotions just exploded after season one. I guess the biggest reason for Gi-hun to be really fixated on going back to the games is that he now knows that the halves don’t know what the weak people go through. And everyone in the game is weak, they’re marginalized. So Gi-hun wants to protect them no matter what and save them. That’s the biggest reason why he wants to go back to the games.

During the second season, Gi-hun reconnects with his old friend, Jung-bae, whom he has not seen for years. At the end of the season, his friend tragically dies. Is Gi-hun at his lowest point in the series at that point? And, without giving spoilers for season three, how do you think that will change him moving forward?
The script or the show itself doesn’t really give a detailed explanation or the meaning behind the death of my best friend. But, I think this really piques curiosity for the viewers to think about what will happen to Gi-hun after he witnesses the death of his best friend. How it’s going to change him. But we all know what that would feel like to have lost a best friend. So I think that’s why we didn’t have to go through a lot of detail in explaining what’s going to happen. And the thing is that the death of Jung-bae is really because Gi-hun started the coup. So Gi-hun feels that it’s all his fault, and I think the viewers would also understand what he would be going through and that he would be at the weakest point, the lowest point in his entire life. And with this immense amount of guilt, I think we are trying to pique curiosity about what’s going to happen in season three with Gi-hun. How is he going to go through all these games? What is going to be on his mind in this very final season?
If you could tease the final season in any way, what would you say?
First of all, it’s going to be packed with twists and turns, and in very extreme situations, the players would have to make choices, and you’ll go through all the ups and downs, the psychological ups and downs that they will be going through.
“Squid Game” season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Season 3 launches on June 27.
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