Lee Jung-Jae – 'Acting is Harder Than Directing'

Lee Jung-Jae, star of the smash K-drama hit Squid Game, talks about season two, the responsibility that comes with success and his debut as a director with Hunt

- By Soo Kim

IT HAS BEEN A BIG YEAR FOR SQUID GAME STAR Lee Jung-jae. He's won Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice awards, been nominated for a Golden Globe, an Emmy (Squid Game got 14 Emmy nods) and received a 7-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May, for the premiere of Hunt, a spy thriller he both directed and stars in.

In one of his first in-depth interviews with a major U.S. publication, Lee spoke to Newsweek from Seoul, where he's been working on post-production for Hunt, which opens in South Korea August 10 (a U.S. release date is in the works). He reflected on directing his first film, his Hollywood aspirations and the "greater responsibility" he feels since the enormous success of Squid Game.

'A Strong Sense of Guilt'

The Netflix K-drama made the 49-year-old Lee, long a star in South Korea, an international pop culture icon. The series is the streaming service's most popular ever, surpassing even other monster hits like Stranger Things and Bridgerton.

In the intriguing final scene of the show's first season, Lee's character, Gi-hun, the surviving winner of the fatal contest of the title, was seen dramatically walking out of a jetway at an airport following a cryptic phone call with a staff member from the games.

Fans wanted to know: What was going through Gi-hun's mind and what was he going to do? After coming to terms with the shocking truth behind the games, Lee says Gi-hun "had shaken off everything and was only thinking about getting to his daughter." But while traveling to the airport, Gi-hun noticed a person on a train platform being recruited for the deady competition by the Salesman, the mysterious character played by actor Gong Yoo who Squid Game director/writer Hwang Dong-hyuk has hinted may be returning in the second season.