This article contains spoilers for Squid Game season 2
Summary
Squid GameSeason 2 features numerous new characters but remains a hit. One of the new faces in the second season shared how they bagged their surprising role.
Squid Gamewas a massive hit when Netflix dropped it in 2021. Since most cast members were players and they died in the first season, multiple new faces joined the series for its second run. One of them was Park Gyu-young, who played Kang No-eul, also known as Guard 11. She recently shared how she landed the role she didn’t expect to portray.
No-eul is a North Korean defector. She joined the tournament as one of the masked soldiers who was assigned to kill the participants who had failed each round. She participated in the deadly tournament to have enough money to be reunited with her daughter. According to her, she did two auditions and did not expect to be among the soldiers cladded in pink uniform. “I went through two rounds of auditions, not knowing what role I would be playing,” Park shared with Deadline. “I was just given a lot of lines to read. The first audition round, I sent in an audition tape. The second round was in person with the director and the creator. It was only after that I was given the script and notified that I would actually be playing the role of the soldier.” Prior to joining the South Korean survival thriller, Gyu-young appeared inSweet HomeandIt’s Okay Not To Be Okay.
Squid Gamefans hadvarious speculationswhen they noticed Guy-young in the promotional material before the second season premiered because, unlike most new characters, she wasn’t wearing the usual green jumpsuit, suggesting she wasn’t among the new players. So, fans were convinced that she would be among the guards, which turned out to be right. However, her character has a major twist: she kills even the living players who fail to end their suffering. Additionally, she later learned that some of the guards were involved in organ trafficking by harvesting organs from living but incapacitated players. So, she continues killing the wounded players to prevent further exploitation.
Gyu-young’s audition experience is not new, as most actors landing lead or major roles have to go through one or more rounds of auditions to show their skills. The process typically involves screen tests, reading specific scenes, and performing monologues. Supporting roles and extras require fewer auditions, but directors could still call for one or two callbacks. No-eul’s addition inSquid GameSeason 2was a breath of fresh air because there was no detail about the guards in the first season. Her narrative was the first to feature the backstory of a masked guard.
Squid GameSeason 2 abruptly ended after its seventh episode. Guard 11 is still alive and is likely to return in Season 3. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he worked on both seasons 2 and 3 simultaneously anddecided to cut it after episode 7because it was a “big turning point.” He was right in saying so because it left the audience shocked and, at the same time, wanting more. Lee Jung-jae, who portrays Gi-hun, previously said that the final season wouldanswer the audience’s lingering questions. Fortunately, it will not be a long wait becauseSquid GameSeason 3 is coming out this year.
