Park Sung-hoon on Transgender Role in 'Squid Game 2': "A Meaningful Challenge"
Jan 08, 2025
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Park Sung-hoon met with Sports Chosun at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 8th to interview the Netflix original series 'Squid Game 2' (played by Hwang Dong-hyuk, directed) and explained about the transgender Hyun-joo he played.
Park Sung-hoon said, `First of all, it was very amazing and surprising that you gave me such a role as a transgender person. On the other hand, there were also burdensome parts. And I also thought that it would be my new and greatest challenge as an actor. I think I really cherished this role and wanted to make it a character that everyone would like with a cool charm."
Referring to the reaction from abroad, Park Sung-hoon said, "I knew long ago that many people were dissatisfied with playing trasgender people who were not actually transgender during overseas reactions. I was very worried about that. I think I made the character by trying not to emphasize that I am transgender more than any personality or personality of Hyunjoo.
Park Sung-hoon also said, `I played LGBTQ (sexual minority) several times even when I was in Daehak-ro, and I thought I had an understanding of them, so I remember being more heartbroken than anyone else when the Sergeant Byun Hee-soo incident (a case of being forced to be discharged from the military after undergoing sex reassignment surgery during military service) occurred. We did additional research, met transgender people, and asked for advice."
Park Sung-hoon continued "What we thought was that we should never caricature Hyeon-ju. I think I acted by focusing on the most altruistic, just, and considerate part of this class. Still, I think Hyun-joo's femininity somehow came out, but in fact, even if you get hormones, your voice does not change much in the process of gender transformation. I read the script with the director in several tones and thought this tone was suitable. As I was in a dramatic situation, I thought that Hyun-joo's original voice would come out, so I expressed it and acted it like that."
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Park Sung-hoon, referring to his situation, which is also drawing attention globally, said, "(If I were to become a world wide transgender) I would be very happy. Because Hyun-joo has a good tendency, if there are still people who have social prejudice against LGBTQ minorities as the character Hyun-joo draws attention, I would be very happy if it could be an opportunity to soften and soften their views a little bit."
Park Sung-hoon also said, `In fact, I also thought that I would like to play the role of gay someday. One of my friends is gay, and I try to understand it, but there are things left in the back of my mind, so I broke the narrow-minded idea that I wanted to understand them deeply and I challenged them with the desire to widen the bowl. I think I was able to learn so many facts and understand them. In fact, when I was performing in the past (as a gay role), a gay friend I had been close to since I was a child came to see me and said, `In a way, it's one of your most important tendencies, and I'm sorry that I didn't fully understand and sympathize with that part until I was 30.'
'Squid Game 2' is a story about a fierce battle between 'Gi-hoon'(Lee Jung-jae) who returns to the game after vowing revenge, and 'Frontman'(Lee Byung-hun) who greets him, and a real game that begins again. According to Netflix's Top 10 To Doom website (Netflix Tudum) on the 8th, Season 2 of Squid Game recorded 58,200,000 viewers (viewing time divided by the total running time of the work) from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, topping the list of top 10 English and non-English integrations in Netflix's global top 10 series.
In addition, Season 2, which ranked seventh in Netflix's all-time most popular series (non-English) within the first week of its release, is surprising as it ranked second with 126,200,000 viewers in 11 days. As a result, seasons 1 and 2 of 'Squid Game' were named in Netflix's most popular series (non-English) category, proving once again that they have become works that receive great attention from all over the world.
lunamoon@sportschosun.com
