Four years ago, Wi Ha-joon was feeling desperate. At the time, the South Korean actor was struggling to land a breakout role and yearning for a change.
But one day, he heard about Squid Game, a dystopian drama in which hopeless people compete for survival by playing Korean children's games: Red Light, Green Light, Dalgona and tug-of-war.
After chatting with the show's creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, Wi decided to try out for a role. On the day of his audition, he had a rash on his face and wore a hat to conceal it. He got the part anyway.
"I'm the type of guy who would be over the moon for the first five seconds, and then I start worrying," the 33-year-old said through an interpreter from his home in Seoul. "I was quite worried about how I would pull off this role and how I should portray this guy."
Fans of Squid Game, whose second season is available on Netflix, know Wi as Jun-ho, the silent, daring police detective with a chiselled jawline.
As he infiltrates the games in search of his brother, he uncovers shocking details about an organ-harvesting operation and surprising information about the identity of his brother. In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) turns out to be a criminal mastermind behind the operation known as the Front Man.
A climactic face-off in Season 1 between the two brothers ends with Jun-ho being shot in the shoulder and lurching off a cliff.
As Squid Game became an international phenomenon, so did Wi. He earned brand sponsorships, received casting invitations for other shows and gained millions of followers on Instagram.
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