Most Emmy nominees start the day brighter and faster with good news. However, Lee Jung Jae saved the most dramatic part of his day to the end when the lamp burned brightly in the background of a video call from his home around 1:30 am in South Korea.
This also applies to the Korean survival drama “Squid Game,” which became a global phenomenon when it premiered on Netflix in September. 49-year-old Lee was nominated for his first Emmy for his role as gambling addict and Seong Gi-hun, the protagonist of the candy-coated horror series about childhood game tournaments. it was done.
One of the 14 “squid games” featured on Tuesday was nominated for the drama’s Best Leading Actor, making history by winning the first outstanding drama series nomination in a non-English language series. rice field. (According to Streamer, this was the most watched series ever on Netflix.)
The series’ amazing success has made Lee, considered one of Korea’s most successful actors, world-famous, winning a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild nomination. (He won the SAG Award for his outstanding performance by a male actor in the drama.) Lee began his modeling career with many hits such as the erotic thriller “The Housemaid” and the gang drama “Delivery”. I appeared in a movie. We from evil. His directorial debut, the spy thriller “Hunt,” which he also produces, will be released in South Korea next month.
In an interview with the help of translators, Lee talked about the amazing success of the series, why he thinks it resonated around the world, and his hopes for Season 2. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Details of the 74th Emmy Awards
The 2022 edition of the Emmy Awards, which celebrates television excellence, will take place on September 12th at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Good — very early — morning! How has your life changed since you basically attended the biggest show in the world?
My life hasn’t changed dramatically, but I’m very happy that “Squid Game” has received a lot of love and support and now more spectators know me.
Have you ever thought it would be this big?
No, no, never. The director said he wanted to make the show popular in the United States, but he never imagined that there would be such a big explosion around the world.
This show is a specific critique of capitalism and inequality in South Korea. Why do you think it resonated globally?
It deals with the problem of the global trend of widening the gap between rich and poor, and this phenomenon is not limited to South Korea, but is a collective experience of the international community.
Did you become insensitive to violence as the series progressed, or was it a shock to immerse yourself in every episode?
The show is not about physical violence, but about psychological violence where people are trying to deceive each other. The occasional visual violence was used only to intensify the conflict. While I was filming, I tried to focus more on that bitter side of the psychological side of why people conflict with each other when people are very close to each other as friends.
Your character chooses to continue the game to the end, even though he knows he needs to give up morality. If you were in his situation, would you make the same choice?
You may hesitate a bit because it takes courage to re-enter that brutal game. Then again, when considering how many people will be sacrificed if the game continues, I think I would make the same choice of re-entering just to stop them.
Netflix recently announced that the show was updated in the second season. Do you have any special hopes for Seong Gi Hun?
When I was reading the Season 1 script, the plot had so many twists that it was difficult to predict where the story was heading. I’m looking forward to something similar in Season 2. I don’t want to know what my character will be, but I don’t want to head up, so I try not to ask the director. It’s intense.