Is Player 465 the New Front Man? Lee Jung-jae Teases ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 on ‘Fallon’
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lee Jung-jae shared a few spoiler-free hints to set the scene for the awaited second season of Squid Game. When the show returns to Netflix on Dec. 26, Player 456 won’t be surrounded by many familiar faces — he’s back in the game, but it’s not an all-stars competition.
“First of all, many people are going to get killed,” Lee shared. It’s the most obvious plot point for such a brutal show. The other revelations he made venture deeper into the lore of the series. Player 465, he said, will not be competing against other past winners of the game. But the new season will see the return of the all-seeing Young-hee, or the Doll. What Lee won’t reveal, however, is whether his character will become the new Front Man.
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“Because Season One was so widely loved, we did feel the pressure about whether or not Season Two would be just as loved,” Lee said. “However, our story has gotten more diverse, deeper, with a very clear theme. So I don’t know if I can say it will be as successful, but what I can say is that it’s just as well made.”
Squid Game premiered more than three years ago, during which time it became the most-watched series in Netflix history. The show is already gearing up for a third season set to premiere in 2025. “It took 12 years to bring the first season of Squid Game to life last year,” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said when he announced Season Two. “But it took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever.”
Last month, Hwang revealed that he didn’t initially plan for the show to extend beyond its first season. But he ultimately felt as though the story wasn’t complete — and the show turning into the global success that we know it as now wasn’t reflected in his earnings. “I didn’t make much,” he told BBC. “So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too.”
For Lee, the success of the series earned him his first Emmy Award in 2022. The win for Best Actor in a Drama marked the first time an Asian actor has ever been awarded in the category. Hwang was awarded in the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series category.
“That night, because director Hwang and I both won, it felt twice as surreal,” Lee told Fallon. “Even now, just thinking about it, my heart is about to burst. It’s hard to put into words. It was a truly amazing night. It was unimaginable.”
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