Lee Jong-jae, the actor of «Squid Game», spent more than a year preparing for the last scenes of Song Gi-hoon — both mentally and physically. Among other things, he had to lose 10 kilograms in order to look like a man who had gone through a lot of suffering and pain, as requested by the director.
This text contains direct spoilers for the third season of «Squid Game»
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lee said that the last scenes were by far the most difficult of all the seasons of the series, as they required a lot of mental preparation for his character’s most difficult choice and a physical demonstration of the stress he was under.
«To do this scene perfectly — all the effort that went into mentally preparing for it and maintaining that psychological state — the whole process was really hard», — says Jong-jae. «Physically, I was on a very strict diet for about 14 months, which was getting stricter every day, until the day we shot the final scene with Gi-hoon».
During this time, the actor lost about 22 pounds (10 kilograms).
«I wanted to portray the character in such a way that even if you just see Gi Hong standing there, you can feel how much torment and pain he is going through».
The last two seasons were filmed one after the other and, in fact, tell the same story, torn into two parts: After winning the competition, Gi Hong returns to the deadly arena with plans to destroy the games from within. At the end of the second, he fails and loses a close friend, trying to regain his morale until the final — in which he is eventually helped by the appearance of the newborn child of one of the participants.
«When I first read this part of the script, it was such a horrible page — very painful», — Jong-jae recalls «I thought: «How did he [Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk] come up with this? Why was the child born under such cruel circumstances?
After the death of the child’s mother, he is forced to fight with double the force and even sacrifice himself when it comes to choosing one life out of two.
«I believe that it was the birth of the child that rekindled something in Gi Hung. With her birth, he had something he wanted to protect».
In the end, Jong-jae agrees with the ending for his character. When asked if he discussed an alternative plan that Hwang had previously disclosed — the actor said that he believed in the ending that was shown to the audience.
«If this project had been more focused on just the entertainment side of the death game genre, I don’t think the director would have wanted to end it this way,» says Jong-jae. «But The Squid Game is different. It’s not just a spectacle — it deals with themes of our inner humanity and social relations. I think Hwang wanted a very clear and complete ending — one that was consistent with his overall message — even if it meant signaling that there would be no fourth season».
Earlier, Jong Che specifically studied English for his role in the series «Acolyte».
Even though the third season of «Squid Game» received contradictory ratings — 79% from critics and only 50% from the audience (the lowest rating in the show’s history) — it has already become the most popular Netflix premiere, collecting 60.1 million views in the first 3 days. This season was indeed the final season for the series, but showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk did not rule out the creation of potential spinoffs, like an interquel, which will take place between seasons 1 and 2. Also, at the end of «Squid Game», we were given a strong hint of the American version of David Fincher’s show, showing Cate Blanchett in the role of a recruiter. It is expected to start filming in December.
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