Squid Game Season 2 creator Hwang Dong-hyuk speaks about the casting controversy in Season 2: Reports

Squid Game Season 2 premiered on Netflix on December 26, 2024, and since then, fans have been impressed with several new characters. One among them is Cho Hyun-ju, a trans-woman who participated in the deadly game to fund her gender change surgery and then move to Thailand, where she would live her life more freely.

However, the casting for Cho Hyun-ju was met with mixed feedback since creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has cast a cis-gender Korean star Park Sung-hoon instead of a transwoman for the role. Hwang Dong-hyuk announced the casting back in June 2023, and the controversy has started since then.

Hwang Dong-hyuk addressed the issue in an interview with TV Line, saying,

"I did anticipate such discussions to arise from the first moment I began creating the character Hyun-ju."

Let us now delve deeper into the controversy and how Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Squid Game addressed it.

Hwang Dong-hyuk talks about casting Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju in Squid Game Season 2

While talking about the casting for the role of Cho Hyun-ju, Hwang Dong-hyuk mentioned that though they initially tried to find a trans actor for the role, they were unfortunate because they did not find any openly trans actors in South Korea. He said to TV Line,

"In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor. When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking. It was near impossible to find someone who we could cast authentically. And that led us to the decision to cast Sung-hoon."

Park Sung-hoon is a popular actor in South Korea and has starred in The Glory and Queen of Tears. Hwang Dong-hyuk was already familiar with the work and mentioned

"I have watched his work ever since his debut, and I had complete trust in him that he would be the right person in terms of talent in portraying this character."

Park nailed the role of Cho Hyun-ju as the character has emerged as a favorite and is likely to be an integral part of Squid Game Season 3. Hwang Dong-hyuk also mentioned that one of the key reasons behind including a trans character in the show was to focus on the marginalized community as they still face discrimination in Korean society.

He said,

“The people who join the games in Squid Game are usually marginalized or neglected, not just financially but in other aspects of life. In season one, we had Ali, a foreign worker in Korea, as a representative of minority groups. For season two, I wanted to address gender minorities, who unfortunately remain underrepresented and face significant societal challenges in Korea.”

Hwang Dong-hyuk’s vision has been perfectly captured by the character of Cho Hyun-ju not only because of how the character has been written but also because of Park’s acting.

Who is Cho Hyun-ju in Squid Game Season 2?

Cho Hyun-ju has proved to be one of the top characters in Squid Game Season 2, and her backstory makes the character even more compelling. It was revealed that when she started her transition surgeries, she was thrown out of the Special Forces.

She was safe from being eliminated in Squid Game Season 2 Episode 3 and lent a hand to Gi-hun, who was helping an injured player. Moreover, in the season finale, drawing expertise from her time in the force, Cho Hyun-ju planned the attack on the control center of the Frontman.

Squid Game Season 1 and 2 can be streamed on Netflix.

Trending

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more updates on shows!

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Comment