We met with two key figures of Squid Game: Lee Jung-jae, who plays Gi-hun, and Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man, to talk about the third season. The actors reflected on their characters and how it feels to say goodbye to the show.
Lee Jung-jae, this one is for you. We saw Gi-Hun act more on revenge in season 3. Would you agree to this? And what do you think his main motivation is towards the end?
Lee Jung-jae: So, after the failed rebellion in the season 2 finale and seeing his best friend getting killed, Gi-Hun feels like it’s all his fault, and he’s at his lowest point. And he’s almost given everything up at the beginning of season 3. But there is a wake-up call for him in season 3, with people around him getting killed and eliminated. He tries to return to his true self, the self who cares for others. But will he be able to do that? Or will he go down the other path, the dark path? You will have to find out in season 3.
Lee Jung Jae, when the Squid Game first premiered, did you expect it to blow up the way it did, and how was the complete journey for you now that you’re saying goodbye?
Lee Jung-jae: I didn’t know in my wildest dreams that it would blow up this big. Director Hwang told me that he infused messages and themes in the show that can be relatable to many people across the globe, but he actually wanted the series to do a good job in the Asian region. But it did much better than that. And I guess director Hwang has a very shrewd eye that reads the zeitgeist very well.
Now it’s time for me to say goodbye, with just one more season to go. We received so much love and support during this entire journey, and I know that this show sparked so much conversation among a lot of people. I’m very grateful for that. I hope that while there are some comments that go a bit overboard, some comments do find out exactly what we want to tell through the story. After watching season 3, or maybe the entire series, people will finally realize what message we’re trying to convey with the show.
Lee Byung-hun, in season 3, we finally got to dive deeper into your character’s backstory, the Front Man, and it’s getting more interesting since you essentially play three different personas. So, what do you think his driving force is, and can you feel any kind of empathy for your character?
Lee Byung-hun: The Front Man does not actually care about whatever Gi-Hun does or whatever action he takes. But when a former winner of the game returns and comes back to the game to dismantle the entire system, Front Man needs to keep him in check and keep an eye on him. So I think that’s what really motivates him. And when the Front Man sees Gi-hun, I think he also sees his true self in him, back when the “Front Man” was In-ho and playing the game for the very first time. So he becomes very interested in this person that seems like a very optimistic, naive kind of guy, who also has a plan to upend the entire system. The Front Man wants to break Gi-Hun’s conviction and just push him to his breaking point.
See also: ‘Squid Game’ Creator and Director Hwang Dong-hyuk on Season 3 – Exclusive Interview & Park Gyu-young on ‘Squid Game’ Season 3 – Exclusive Interview
