‘Ogem2’ Choi Seung-hyun “I will humbly accept the harsh criticism about my acting, and use it as a stepping stone to grow” [DA:Interview②]

Actor Choi Seung-hyun (TOP), formerly of group Big Bang, humbly accepted the harsh criticism about his acting.

In an interview for the second season of the Netflix series ‘Squid Game’, held at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 15th, Choi Seung-hyun admitted about his divisive acting, “I think I have to endure the criticism myself and humbly accept it”.

‘Squid Game’ season 2, which Choi Seung-hyun appears in, is a story about ‘Ki-hoon’ (Lee Jung-jae), who returns to the game after vowing revenge, and the ‘Frontman’ (Lee Byung-hun) who greets him, as well as the real game starting again. He played Thanos, a drug dealer who was a rapper among the contestants in Season 2 of ‘Squid Game’.

Choi Seung-hyun said about Thanos, “It was a character that I discussed a lot with the director and designed meticulously. It was a character that could evoke a dark and heavy atmosphere even in the scenario. Since it was an unrealistic and cartoonishly depicted character, Thanos was set up as a hip-hop loser character who had a failed life, not a flashy or cool rapper. In that sense, it is true that the character is dependent on drugs, and it is set up so that he looks funny and less inferior.”.

He said that the rap was intentionally expressed awkwardly and comically in the setting. Choi Seung-hyun said, “The rap lyrics were in the scenario. The number of characters was originally larger. Even in the scenario, the god himself was a funny and bizarre god with an odd timing. The mental age of the character Thanos is almost like Shin-chan. I wanted to emphasize the part where he cringes like a ‘hip-hop loser’ when rapping. I was embarrassed and felt ashamed, but I did my best because it was my role,” he said.

He said, “The drug Thanos takes is a strong drug, so I looked up a lot of information when I was researching the character. I found out that when people rely on such drugs, their teeth get damaged a lot, and when they don’t have the drug, they get anxious, feel extreme anxiety, and show ADHD symptoms. I wanted to act differently before and after Thanos takes the drug before starting the game ‘Mugunghwa Flower Has Blossomed’ in the game room. Because he feels extreme anxiety and nervousness, the rhythm is also different from other people. I tried to act with a mumble rap that American Southern rappers do, making his pronunciation slurred.”

He said that he suffered a fractured rib during a bathroom scene with Myung-gi (Im Si-wan), but showed fighting spirit. Choi Seung-hyun said, “It’s true that my ribs were cracked. I received simple treatment on set. Since the bathroom scene is a scene where so many people act together, I thought I had to do it until the end with a sense of responsibility. Im Si-wan also has a lot of experience with action scenes, so I relied on him a lot while filming with him. He recalled, “We filmed in a good mood while going ‘wow wow’ to each other.”

Regarding the performance reminiscent of Big Bang’s choreography during the ‘round, round’ game, he explained, “It’s a cowboy dance, so I didn’t think of Big Bang. Since it’s content that viewers from all over the world watch, I think it came out without me realizing it while dancing to it.”

Choi Seung-hyun also said, “As an actor, I don’t think I can be objective about what I express. I monitored both good and bad reviews from home and abroad. I’m using it as a stepping stone and learning from them in order to grow further.” He added that he has no regrets about ending Season 2 early. He even joked, “Thanos does a lot of bad things in the play, but it doesn‘t seem like he lives long.”

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com
Photo｜THE SEED