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On January 9, 2025, South Korean actor Park Sung-joon discussed the challenging role as a transgender woman in Squid Game 2 during an exclusive interview with Korea JoongAng Daily.
He took the character of a transgender woman, Hyun-ju/Player No. 120, who was a former soldier. She joined the deadly game amid her transition process.
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During the conversation, he confessed that he wanted to portray the character with seriousness and responsibility. He wanted to do his best to represent the minority group as it would be featured in a hit series internationally.
"I never wanted to overdo the voice or exaggerate my gestures, and the director fully agreed with me on that," he said.
Park Sung-hoon stated that he played Hyun-ju's character with detail and caution in Squid Game 2
Squid Game 2 actor Park Sung-hoon said that he played Hyun-ju's character with caution. He took care of the minute details with consideration to represent the minority group accurately.
He studied and consulted transgender people to avoid making the character caricaturish. The male made this commitment along with director Hwang Dong-hyuk.
He further mentioned that he did not alter his voice much as it was already too deep. He kept it similar to maintain emotional authenticity in Squid Game 2.
He added that the development of Player No.120's physical appearance was the effort of multiple people, including him, director Hwang Dong-hyuk, and costume and make-up teams. They finalized the character's look through various tries. Park Sung-hoon disclosed that Hyun-ju's short bangs were his ideas.
The actor went on to describe the talent of the creator of Squid Game 2. He stated how the maker asked him to add a line, 'My mother cried a lot,' which empowered the emotional aspect of the particular scene. He mentioned, as translated by the media outlet Korea JoongAng Daily:
"I think that was really smart, sophisticated, and detailed. He also advised me to think about how Hyun-ju's mother would've felt when she first found out about Hyunju's s*xuality, and he wanted that emotion to come through, but at the same time, didn't want to overdo it."
Park Sung-hoon also disclosed how Hwang Dong-hyuk was able to trace his feminine identity when he was playing the role of Tae-hoon in the KBS series Hee-soo in 2021. He added, as translated by Korea JoongAng Daily:
"Actually, I was raised with two older sisters, so it was difficult not to be influenced by them growing up. But I had kept this feminine side of me hidden. It felt as if a shaman was seeing through him. The director told me that he saw Hyun-ju in me when I was playing Taehoon in the KBS TV cinema series Hee-soo."
Netflix confirmed that Squid Game season three will premiere in 2025.
