Lee Jung-jae: It's 'worrying' that the horrible 'squid game' resonated with so many people

Lee Jung-jae wants the world to wonder why "Squid Game" was so addictive.

The star of Netflix's hit survival series has opened up about the show's success ahead of its second season. "I'm happy with it, of course, but it's bittersweet," Lee said. "Yes, it's great that audiences are consuming Korean content around the world. And they appreciate it. But if you think about 'Squid Game' themes - how far are we willing to go to accumulate personal wealth, how far people are forced to go - the fact that it resonated with so many around the world is disturbing."

Lee added, "You feel like that's the reality for so many people around the world. And that makes me extremely sad."

Lee won the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series and is making his directorial debut this year with the thriller "Hunt." The actor has also joined Disney+'s upcoming "Star Wars" series "The Acolyte." Yet the themes behind "Squid Game" are still haunting.

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"We had to express the experiences of these characters taken to these extremes. To do that? It was terrible," Lee said. was horrible for the characters, and therefore for us as actors. I think about what happened on that show. It is impossible not to. And it made me think about what I'm not doing. Many of us live unconscious. It made me rethink the way I see the world. He couldn't not."

Lee previously told IndieWire that while the show's success was "unexpected," he could see why the show resonated around the world.

"It's mainly the fact that the games are both very simple and unique, and simple enough that people can easily follow and copy them. And I think the most important factor was the fascinating characters Lee said earlier this year. "They thought the characters were very compelling. Audience members saw themselves in some of the characters and other people in other characters. It helped them form [a ] emotional connection with most of the characters. I think seeing these players, the competitors, desperately trying to survive in these games, they saw themselves and have issues [with] certain social issues in our time. So that has really resonated with them."

"Squid Game was created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk and was renewed for Season 2 in June 2022.

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