The second season of Korean Netflix mega hit Squid Game 2 debuted to mixed reviews on Dec 26, with many criticising former BigBang rapper TOP’s performance.
TOP, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, stars as volatile rapper Thanos aka Player 230, one of many cash-strapped individuals taking part in the deadly games to win a massive cash prize.
The 37-year-old star has faced backlash since the announcement of his casting last month.
Then, director Hwang Dong-hyuk defended TOP’s casting, saying he is “indispensable for this role” and that viewers should judge him after watching the show.
Well, they did, and the comments are not pretty.
Besides labelling him the show’s “shortcoming” and “worst casting choice”, Korean media made scathing remarks about his poor acting and called his scenes “unbearable”.
Some even demanded that he “apologise to the global audience”.
It doesn’t help that his character, who uses drugs, overlaps with TOP’s real-life controversies, “amplifying the unpleasantness watching him portray such a character”.
In 2017, he was sentenced to a 10-month suspended prison term for marijuana use.
Netizens weren’t much kinder.
While some praised him for having the courage to take on the role, others said it felt like “self-mockery” and they “couldn’t tell if he was acting or just being himself”.
Director Hwang has continued voicing his support for TOP, praising the rapper for his courage in an interview with US entertainment publication, People.
“I feel that it took him a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too. So I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.”
Hwang added: “Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character.”
This story was originally published in 8Days.
