Squid Game and Lee Jung Jae score big at Gotham Awards 2021

Squid Game and its actors continue to reach new heights, with the show’s star Lee Jung Jae and the show both being nominated for the 31st annual Gotham Independent Film Awards!

Netflix’s Squid Game has taken the world by storm, becoming the most-watched Netflix show on the planet, taking over Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgerton. The show’s global domination, though, is evidently not over. From Squid Game parodies to real-life recreations of the show, Squid Game is everywhere and here to stay.

Veteran actor Lee Jung Jae, who plays the protagonist Gi Hun, has received world-wide acclaim for his sensitive portrayal of the Squid Game's soft-hearted lead. The actor, fueled by the show's success, recently opened an Instagram account and has already amassed 4.1 million followers.

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Squid Game and Lee Jung Jae in the list of nominees for Gotham Awards 2021

On October 21, the Gotham Independent Film Awards officially announced the nominees for this year, where Netflix’s Squid Game scored not one but two nominations!

While the mega-successful show was nominated for Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes), everyone’s favorite Ahjussi Lee Jung Jae, scored a nomination in the Outstanding Performance in a New Series category.

2021 also marks the first time the Gotham Awards have eliminated gendered categories in acting in favor of gender-neutral nominations for all acting categories. Gotham Awards 2021 also sees the introduction of Outstanding Performance in a New Series category, for which Lee Jung Jae has been nominated.

Lee Jung Jae has been nominated along with an incredibly talented collection of actors. The Squid Game star will face stiff competition from the likes of Michael Greyeyes (Rutherford Falls), Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird), Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs), Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad), Jean Smart (Hacks), Omar Sy (Lupin), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), and Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts).

Lee Jung Jae, and Anjana Vasan, who is from Singapore, happen to be the only two Asian faces on the list of nominees.

Squid Game’s Gi Hun also happens to be the only one of two actors in a non-English language show, the other being French show Lupin’s lead actor Omar Sy.

Squid Game’s Gotham Awards nomination as Breakthrough Series is the first in what fans hope will be a long list of nominations. The Korean survival show happens to be the only non-English show on the list of nominees, which includes shows like The Underground Railroad and The Good Lord Bird.

The 31st annual Gotham Awards ceremony is scheduled for November 29 in New York.