Anticipating a strong role, Lee Jung Jae hoped for something different after accepting Gi-hun in Squid Game.
Squid Game, a Netflix original series, tells the story of participants in a cryptic survival game. Players, including Gi-hun, risk their lives to vie for the price of 45.6 billion dollars.
Following the series’ success, Lee gained even more recognition for altering his acting to complement his charismatic appearance.
Likewise, he met Lee Byung Hun, who made a special appearance in the games.
“Lee Byung-Hun hyung and I always want to work together. Of course, I want to work with Byung-Hun hyung. Even if I can’t appear in part 2, I definitely want to try it in another work.”
Lee Jung Jae further revealed how he developed a bond with his character while filming Squid Game.
Seong Gi-hun as a kindhearted friend
Lee Jung Jae’s work expectations as he ages indicated that he desired to play a part distinct from his previous performances.
“As I got older, I could only play villains or strong roles. I wanted to show something new. Then, I was offered the character Gi-hun, and I thought it would be good to try it once in a long time because it is a common male role in everyday life. Director Hwang Dong Hyuk’s happy to see it as a work, but I was more than happy to see the character.”
Regarding his role, he confessed that there was not a single instance during which he pushed aside his compassion.
“I read him as a friend with a warm heart. There was nothing I didn’t understand. I liked the way Gi-hun’s character was cute and he didn’t lose his humanity in such a situation. I don’t think it happened.”
Lee Jung Jae added that Sung Gi-hun’s personality reflected a complex individual. He stated, “After seeing the work, I laughed for a long time thinking, Did I act like that?”
On his most challenging period as an actor
At the closing of the series, Lee spoke with Hwang PD about the necessity of changing Gi-hun’s hair color.
“I also asked director Hwang Dong Hyuk why he had to wear red hair. He said that he chose a color that normal men the age of Gi-hun would never do. It seems to show a will that goes beyond the limit of never doing it. I could not do anything else, so I wore a wig that fit well and acted.”
Additionally, he noted that there comes a point at which he struggles to represent a particular role.
“Life acting is the most difficult. If you catch a strong character at the beginning, it tends to be easily played as you move on to the character you are captured. Life acting requires more attention. It should be a little more natural and people in everyday life. It’s not easy because there are points where it has to look like a documentary. But it’s not a documentary, so there were also mixed performances that could happen in extreme situations.”
Behind-the-scenes details of Squid Game
Lee explicitly stated, “Without exaggeration, the characters exploded emotions very effectively, so I felt a lot different from other survival game movies.”
He added during the filming of the scene, which the staff and director diligently arranged in order to minimize the use of graphics.
“The scale of each game was amazing. I couldn’t figure out the scene where 456 people played ‘Mugunghwa Blooms’ with a large doll in a large vacant lot, or a tug of war game with a lot of CG just looking at the scenario. Maybe that’s why every time I went to the set, I was curious about how this set would be implemented, and when I went, I was busy taking pictures before filming because it was so good. I felt that the director and staff had been meticulously prepared for a long time during filming. I think I’ve seen it a lot in.“
Lee Jung Jae personally regarded filming the “Glass Stepping Stone” game as the most tricky.
“I have to run 1.5-2m and step on the tempered glass. The staff said, ‘Run because it’s safe’, but that didn’t work out. It had to be wide enough to make it look somewhat dangerous, so in the beginning it was too far apart to make it difficult to run.“
Furthermore, he clearly notes that this survival game is not what he remembers from his childhood.
In case you haven’t seen what the hype is about, Squid Game is currently available on Netflix worldwide.
Source: sportschosun
Photos: Netflix
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