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Former BIGBANG member T.O.P will reportedly begin filming for Squid Game 2 this week despite the controversial recruitment. According to an exclusive report from Maeil Kyungjae, the highly anticipated second season of the popular show went on floors this week with sessions in Seoul and Incheon. Lead actor Lee Jung-jae completed his first recording secretly. Former BIGBANG member T.O.P, who plays the role of a retired K-pop idol, too filmed his first couple of scenes this week, and his role is said to be more crucial to the plotline of Squid Game 2 than expected.
However, despite the raging controversy surrounding his casting, T.O.P’s fans are excited to see him in Squid Game 2 and have taken to social media to cheer him on for his new venture. “This is getting exciting,” @BIGBANGMusic_ wrote.
BIGBANG’s T.O.P’s fans send supportive messages as chatter surrounding his controversial casting in Squid Game 2 continues
While a huge chunk of Squid Game 2’s fandom is unhappy with T.O.P’s casting in the drama, his fans have rallied behind him, sending sweet and supportive messages for the K-pop idol as he makes a comeback through the highly anticipated sequel of the fictional survival drama.
For those unversed, on June 29, former BIGBANG member T.O.P was introduced as one of the new cast members for Squid Game 2, comprising some of the biggest names from the Korean industry. Korean media outlets conducted detailed research wherein they discovered actor Lee Jung-jae’s part in recruiting him for Squid Game 2. The two Korean stars have been close friends for many years now, and Lee Jung-jae helped “save” T.O.P’s tanking career by casting him in the much-awaited sequel.
In response to Dispatch’s report, his representatives simply stated, “We cannot say anything other than the official statement from Netflix." However, the unsatisfactory response irked Korean fans more as they felt T.O.P’s casting was simply unfair, considering the various controversies he has been involved in throughout his idol career. However, the Still Life singer’s fans banded together in his support and cheered for him as he began shooting for Squid Game 2.
It was believed that Lee Jung-jae used his massive influence to cast his friend T.O.P in the project. However, Lee Jung-jae’s management refuted claims that he was involved in the casting process at all and that director Hwang Dong-hyuk personally finalised T.O.P for Squid Game 2. PD Hwang Dong-hyuk cast him in the role of a retired idol who can dance, rap, and look and behave like a popular K-pop idol and found T.O.P to be the perfect casting choice as it mirrors his reality as well.
BIGBANG’s T.O.P’s last acting job was in 2015 with the K-drama The Secret Message and in 2016 with the film BIGBANG Made: The Movie. He earned major acclaim for the 2014 crime-drama film Tazza: The Hidden Card in the titular role of Ham Dae-gil.
Netflix and Hwang Dong-hyuk have maintained a dignified silence over T.O.P’s casting
Ever since Dispatch released their detailed report on T.O.P’s casting in Squid Game 2, the former BIGBANG member, Lee Jung-jae, and Lee Byung-hun’s representatives have all denied any foul play in the casting process. However, Netflix and Hwang Dong-hyuk have yet to comment on the issue and have maintained a dignified silence on the matter.
Unnamed sources also revealed to Korean news outlets that T.O.P has no intentions of stepping down from the much-anticipated sequel despite the public backlash over his casting and that Netflix is just waiting for the matter to cool down.
Furthermore, the same unnamed sources revealed that Hwang Dong-hyuk also intends to keep quiet and just focus on filming the second season of arguably the biggest show in Netflix’s history. Fans of the show have pointed out Netflix’s double standards and hypocrisy considering they wasted no time in firing Yoo Ah-in from Hellbound’s upcoming season and Kim Sae-ron from Bloodhounds and yet continue to protect T.O.P. No further statements were made on this matter.
