Squid Game’s Creator Says It Was ‘Near Impossible’ to Cast One Character ‘Authentically’
Squid Game Season 2 has just released and on top of the devastating cliffhanger and the questions about when—thankfully not if—Season 3 is coming, one of the biggest questions has been about one of the new characters, Hyun-ju, a transgender woman who enters the games in the hopes of making enough money to complete her transition.
Of course, Squid Game isn’t really a game that allows you to feel safe about the well-being of everyone, so rooting for Hyun-ju is about as complicated as rooting for Seong Gi-hun, even if he’s supposedly our main character. And that’s without even going into the fact that Season 2 ends with a title card that promises this story is set “To Be Continued…”
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But the main question about Hyun-ju doesn’t have anything to do with the rebellion, the treason that leaves Seong Gi-hun on the verge of losing these games for good, or the final showdown between Gi-hun and Front Man we will get to see in Season 3. Instead, people are mostly interested in who is portraying Hyun-ju, and whether she is being portrayed by a trans woman.
So, is Hyun-ju trans in real life from Squid Game? Here’s everything we know.
Is Hyun-ju from Squid Game trans in real life?
No, the character of Hyun-ju is played by cisgender male actor Park Sung-hoon and isn’t trans. Speaking about it, creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk told TV Guide, “I did anticipate such discussions to arise from the first moment I began creating the character Hyun-ju,” and yet decided to make the character trans anyway. “In the beginning, we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.”
However, the creator revealed that it proved almost impossible, despite Squid Game’s best intentions. “When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking,” he added.
Related: Is Squid Game Season 3 coming?
“It was near impossible to find someone who we could cast authentically,” a decision that has been met with fierce criticism online because almost isn’t truly impossible. There are few, but some working trans actors in South Korea. “And that led us to the decision to cast Sung-hoon. I have watched his work ever since his debut, and I had complete trust in him that he would be the right person in terms of talent in portraying this character.”
Hwang also told The Wrap about the creation of the character, “She’s a person who got hurt a lot by social discrimination and prejudice. And there are many incidents in Korea where transgender people suffered prejudice and discrimination,” adding that “Because I do know all the incidents, and I also have personal memories, and also on top of that, like, social incidents, but I wanted to emphasize the fact that even so, even if she is transgender, she has the inner beauty in herself as a human.”
Speaking about the character in a “Meet the Cast” featurette, Park Said, “Even though she faces prejudices and tough situations, she shows incredible strength, decisiveness, and natural leadership. Through her resilience, she breaks down stereotypes and shines as an inspiring character.”
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