Lee Jung-jae praises Squid Game’s bold ending

“Aren’t you the most famous South Korean in the world right now?”

Actor Lee Jung-jae, the star of “Squid Game” Season 3, released on June 27, let out a hearty laugh and said, “That could be true.” When we met him on Thursday afternoon at a café in Jongno, Seoul, he shared, “It’s really over now,” adding with mixed feelings, “I wonder if I’ll ever have another chance to talk about ‘Squid Game.’”

Lee has anchored the series from Season 1 through the finale, playing the main character, Seong Gi-hun. For Season 1, he won the Emmy Award for Best Actor, becoming the first Asian actor to receive the honor in 2022. When asked what he considers the most memorable scene across the series, he immediately chose the “final ending” of Season 3.

“To be honest, I never imagined such an ending. But I was amazed by the director’s courage. He must have known it would divide opinions. There was also the temptation, from a business perspective, to continue with more seasons. But seeing how he focused solely on the message and brought the series to a close made me feel even more affection for the work.”

Given how important the scene was, it reportedly took an entire day to film just that one scene. Since it was an emotionally complex moment, he filmed multiple takes with different facial expressions and nuances. “That scene was also my last shoot,” he said and added a joke by saying, “Thanks to that, I was finally able to end the diet that helped me lose 10 kilograms.”

On the other hand, when asked which character left the deepest impression, he named Cho Sang-woo (played by Park Hae-soo) from Season 1. Sang-woo was Gi-hun’s neighborhood junior who was considered a prodigy since childhood and seemed to be on a successful path but fell into debt after a failed investment. “Squid Game is ultimately a story about choices,” Lee said. “As I thought about why Sang-woo made those choices, I felt more pity than a sense of betrayal.”

In August 2022, Lee also made his directorial debut with the film “Hunt.” Reflecting on his experience directing, he said it made him think more deeply about the expectations and challenges surrounding South Korean content. Regarding the recent controversy over rising production costs driven by actors’ high fees, he commented, “The content industry must not regress because of this issue,” and added, “It’s not any one person’s fault, but everyone in the industry surely feels the need for improvement.”

“Squid Game is like a gateway through which people around the world have come to discover K-content. I hope we can continue to produce great works so that this gateway doesn’t narrow or close. The domestic film market is quite stagnant right now, but I hope K-content, which has just started to gain momentum, continues to spread steadily across the world,” Lee said.


김태언 beborn@donga.com