Actor Park Sung-hoon talked about the reason he took on the unconventional challenge of transforming into a transgender through ‘Squid Game 2’.

On the afternoon of the 8th, Park Sung-hoon met with Dong-a.com for an interview for the Netflix series ‘Squid Game Season 2’ (hereafter ‘Squid Game 2’) at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and talked about the work.

When asked about director Hwang Dong-hyeok‘s intentions in casting him as Hyun-joo in ‘Squid Game 2’, Park Sung-hoon replied, “He said he saw Hyun-joo’s appearance after watching a work where he played the role of an ordinary father. That‘s why I was surprised and fascinated.”



Park Sung-hoon also said, “I was both surprised and fascinated that he gave me that kind of role. On the other hand, there was also a burdensome aspect. On the other hand, he said, ”It will be the newest and biggest challenge for me as an actor. I think I developed an ambition to cherish this role and create an attractive character.“

Not only in Korea, but also overseas, the character of Hyun-joo in ‘Squid Game 2’ is a character that has received much love. Regarding this response, Park Sung-hoon said, ”I didn’t have time to look for such responses (because of the previous incident). I did look up the domestic responses a little, and I thought it was funny to see people calling me Jae-joon in the comments for ‘Squid Game’.“ He added, ”Because Hyun-joo‘s personality is so good, I hope that if there are people who still have prejudice against sexual minorities, their views will soften as I receive attention for the character of Hyun-joo. If that happens, I will be proud.“

Park Sung-hoon revealed that ‘Squid Game 2’ is not the first time he has played the role of a sexual minority, saying, ”The first time I played a minority role in Daehangno was in director Kim Jo-kwang-soo’s work. When I participated in the project at that time, I had prejudice. That‘s why I wanted to play a gay role someday. I have gay friends among my friends, and I wanted to understand them deeply. That’s why I took on the challenge, and while working on that project, I was able to fully understand them,“ he explained.



Park Sung-hoon, who starred in the drama ‘Queen of Tears’, which was greatly loved last year, has been named a ‘blockbuster’ for ‘Squid Game 2’. He revealed that while filming ‘Squid Game 2’, he was also filming ‘Queen of Tears’, saying, ”I played a transgender role in the morning and had my bad eyes open in the evening. There were many times when I filmed two projects in one day. That was fun. It was physically difficult, but emotionally, I felt very fulfilled. Both projects were highly anticipated, and being able to learn from my seniors in both projects was a great learning experience for me. He said, “It was a precious opportunity that I wondered if I would ever get another chance like this as an actor.”

Meanwhile, ‘Squid Game 2’, released on December 26, is a story about Ki-hoon (played by Lee Jung-jae), who vows revenge and returns to participate in the game, and the fierce confrontation between the frontman (played by Lee Byung-hun) who greets him, and the real game that begins again.

Park Sung-hoon played the role of ‘Hyun-joo’, transgender number 120, who needs money to complete gender confirmation surgery in ‘Squid Game 2’.

Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com