Squid Game has recently made history as it became the first non-English-language TV series and the first Korean series to be nominated for a SAG award. The show picked up four nominations including one for Outstanding Performance by Male Actor for Lee Jung-jae, and Outstanding Performance by Female Actor for Jung Ho-yeon.
The director and writer of the Korean show Hwang Dong-hyuk has recently expressed his happiness and stated to Deadline, “Upon hearing the nomination today, I think it has to be the happiest moment since we’ve created Squid Game.” “The fact not just one or two leading actors were recognized, but the whole cast being nominated as the best ensemble. It brings me great joy as a director, who has cast and created the series, just being nominated,” he went on.
Apart from the nominations for the two lead actors, the show also received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The popular Korean Netflix series, which revolves around 456 players participating in deadly children’s games as they fight to win the huge cash prize, was a hit after its September 2021 premiere and quickly smashed streaming records.
The nine-episode show became Netflix’s best series debut ever, eventually reaching over 3 billion minutes streamed. The show’s main actor Lee Jung-jae, 49, who plays the character of Seong Gi-hun on the series told the publication he believes the recent popularity of Korean content is due to the high-quality material and great directors.
Meanwhile, the female lead actress of the series Jung Ho-yeon, 27, who starred as Kang Sae-byeok on the show shared her excitement on Instagram, conveying her gratitude for the teamwork that went into making the survival drama. She wrote, “I am truly excited for the best ensemble nomination, which has made all of our team’s time spent together on Squid Game even more valuable.’
The Korean actress went on to say, “Working on this series, and acting for the first time, I thought about how creating something ‘together,’ and ‘as an ensemble’ just might be the true value of our society.” However, last year Hwang revealed that he was beginning the process of working on the second season of the show, though it has not yet been confirmed by Netflix. The 2022 SAG Awards ceremony is set for February 27.
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