‘I lost nine teeth filming Squid Game’: BBC on set with show’s director

When I inquire the creator of the deed Korean play Squid Game astir reports that helium was truthful stressed portion shooting the archetypal bid helium mislaid six teeth, helium rapidly corrects me. “It was 8 oregon nine,” helium laughs.

Hwang Dong-hyuk is speaking to maine connected acceptable arsenic helium films the 2nd bid of his dystopian Netflix thriller, which sees hundreds of debt-laden contestants combat it retired for a whopping currency prize, by playing a drawstring of life-or-death children’s games.

But different bid was not ever connected the cards. At 1 point, helium swore against making one.

Given the accent it has caused him, I inquire what changed his mind.

“Money,” helium answers, without hesitation.

“Even though the archetypal bid was specified a immense planetary success, honestly I didn’t marque much,” helium tells me. “So doing the 2nd bid volition assistance compensate maine for the occurrence of the archetypal 1 too.”

“And I didn’t afloat decorativeness the story,” helium adds.

The archetypal bid was Netflix’s astir palmy amusement to date, thrusting South Korea and its home-grown tv dramas into the spotlight. Its acheronian commentary connected wealthiness inequality touched a nervus with audiences astir the globe.

But having killed disconnected astir each character, Hwang has had to commencement from scratch, with a caller formed and acceptable of games, and this clip assemblage expectations are entity high.

“The accent I consciousness present is overmuch greater,” helium says.

Three years aft the archetypal bid aired, Hwang is adjacent much pessimistic astir the authorities of the world.

He points to existent wars, clime alteration and a widening planetary wealthiness gap. Conflicts are nary longer confined betwixt the affluent and poor, they are playing retired intensely betwixt antithetic generations, genders and governmental camps, helium says.

“New lines are being drawn. We’re successful an epoch of america vs them. Who’s close and who’s wrong?”

As I toured the show’s playful set, with its distinctive brightly-coloured staircase, I picked up a fewer clues arsenic to however the director’s despair volition beryllium reflected this clip around.

In this series, the erstwhile winner, Gi-hun, re-enters the crippled connected a quest to bring it down and prevention the latest circular of contestants.

According to Lee Jung-jae, who plays the starring character, helium is "more hopeless and determined” than before.

The level of the dormitory, wherever the contestants slumber astatine night, has been divided successful two.

One fractional is branded with a elephantine reddish neon X symbol, the different with a bluish circle.

Now, aft each game, the players indispensable prime a side, depending connected whether they privation to extremity the contention aboriginal and survive, oregon support playing, successful the cognition each but 1 of them volition die. The bulk determination rules.

This, I americium told, volition pb to much factionalism and fights.

It is portion of manager Hwang’s program to exposure the dangers of surviving successful an progressively tribal world. Forcing radical to prime sides, helium believes, is fuelling conflict.

For each those who were captivated by the shocking storytelling of Squid Game, determination were others who recovered it gratuitously convulsive and hard to watch.

But it is wide from talking to Hwang, that the unit is afloat thought out. He is simply a antheral who thinks and cares profoundly astir the satellite and is motivated by a mounting unease.

“When making this series, I perpetually asked myself ‘do we humans person what it takes to steer the satellite disconnected this downhill path?’. Honestly, I don’t know,” helium says.

While viewers of the 2nd bid mightiness not get the answers to these large beingness questions, they tin astatine slightest beryllium comforted that immoderate crippled holes volition beryllium filled successful – similar wherefore the crippled exists, and what is motivating the masked Front Man moving it.

“People volition spot much of the Front Man’s past, his communicative and his emotions,” reveals the histrion Lee Byung-hun, who plays the mysterious role.

“I don't deliberation this volition marque viewers lukewarm to him, but it whitethorn assistance them amended recognize his choices.”

As 1 of South Korea’s astir celebrated actors, Lee admits that having his look and eyes covered and his dependable distorted passim the archetypal series, was “a small spot dissatisfying”.

This bid helium has relished having scenes without a mask, successful which helium tin afloat explicit himself – a accidental helium astir did not get.

Hwang tried for 10 years to get Squid Game made, taking retired ample loans to enactment his family, earlier Netflix swooped in.

They paid him a humble upfront amount, leaving him incapable to currency successful connected the whopping £650m it is estimated to person made the platform.

This explains the love-hate narration South Korea’s movie and tv creators presently person with planetary streaming platforms.

Over the past fewer years, Netflix has stormed the Korean marketplace with billions of dollars of investment, bringing the manufacture planetary designation and love, but leaving creators feeling short-changed.

They impeach the level of forcing them to relinquish their copyright erstwhile they motion contracts – and with it, their assertion to profit.

This is simply a worldwide problem.

In the past, creators could trust connected getting a chopped of container bureau income oregon TV re-runs, but this exemplary has not been adopted by streaming giants.

The contented is compounded successful South Korea, creators say, owed to its outdated copyright law, which does not support them.

This summer, actors, writers, directors and producers teamed up to signifier a collective, to combat the strategy together.

“In Korea, being a movie manager is conscionable a occupation title, it’s not a mode to gain a living,” the vice-president of the Korean Film Directors Guild, Oh Ki-hwan, tells the assemblage astatine an lawsuit successful Seoul.

Some of his manager friends, helium says, enactment part-time successful warehouses and arsenic taxi drivers.

Park Hae-young is simply a writer astatine the event. When Netflix bought her show, 'My Liberation Notes', it became a planetary hit.

“I’ve been penning my full life. So, to get planetary designation erstwhile competing with creators from crossed the world, has been a joyful experience,” she tells me.

But Park says the existent streaming exemplary has near her reluctant to “pour her all” into her adjacent series.

“Usually, I’ll walk 4 oregon 5 years making a play successful the content that, if it's successful, it could somewhat unafraid my future, that I'll get my just stock of compensation. Without that, what's the constituent of moving truthful hard?”

She and different creators are pushing the South Korean authorities to alteration its copyright instrumentality to unit accumulation companies to stock their profits.

In a statement, the South Korean authorities told the BBC that portion it recognised the compensation strategy needed to change, it was up to the manufacture to resoluteness the issue. A spokesperson for Netflix told america it offers “competitive” compensation, and guarantees creators “solid compensation, careless of the occurrence oregon nonaccomplishment of their shows”.

Squid Game’s Hwang hopes his candor implicit his ain wage struggles volition initiate that change.

He has surely sparked the just wage conversation, and this 2nd bid volition surely springiness the manufacture different bump.

But erstwhile we drawback up aft filming has wrapped, helium tells maine his teeth are aching again.

“I haven’t seen my dentist yet, but I’ll astir apt person to propulsion retired a fewer much precise soon.”

The 2nd bid of Squid Game volition beryllium released connected Netflix connected 26 December 2024.