WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM SQUID GAME?
I learnt that I shouldn’t give up. If you love something and if you want to create something, it might not work now, but the time might come later. Or that idea could be the source of inspiration for something else.
YOU’VE ALREADY FINISHED FILMING SEASON THREE OF SQUID GAME. HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOUR NEXT PROJECT WILL BE?
I’m afraid to talk about it but it’s a feature film taking place 10 to 20 years in the future. It’s darker than Squid Game. It’s going to be quite cruel, quite sad, but at the same time quite quirky and humorous.
WHAT FILMS AND TV SHOWS DO YOU ENJOY?
I used to think you had to have a specific taste to be cool, but I actually think I’m very omnivorous. I like to watch anything. When I’m on the couch watching TV, sometimes I watch CNN or Fox News. And then National Geographic and nature documentaries, I also watch some very soapy Korean shows or reality TV as well.
I hop around and watch everything that’s kind of happening in the world. With a series, I often don’t stick with it the whole way through. There’s only about like five shows that I watched until the very end, like Breaking Bad and Why Women Kill.
WOULD YOU EVER WANT TO DIRECT A US PRODUCTION OR HOLLYWOOD ACTORS?
Of course. I studied film school at the University of Southern California and there are so many people I’d love to work with. I have had those offers since Squid Game, but because I’m a writer-director I think I’m best when I’m working with Korean actors, giving direction in Korean with my Korean script. But, if I come across an amazing script, why not? I’d love to work with Jake Gyllenhaal.
THERE ARE MORE CHARACTERS IN SEASON TWO OF SQUID GAME. WHY IS THAT?
With seasons two and three, I had more screen time for more characters. This time around we have a lot of younger characters. When I was creating season one, I thought it was very hard for you to be up to your neck in debt when you’re only in your 20s or 30s. I thought you had to be at least middle-aged to need money and want to join the Squid Game. But the world has changed.
Now I feel like there are fewer decent jobs for young people and they feel like working hard doesn’t even get them into the middle class. They want to hit the jackpot, so that’s why they invest in cryptocurrency. In Korea, there are a lot of young people in their early 20s or 30s turning to online gambling. I wanted to show what society really is like today.
SEASON TWO OF SQUID GAME HAS ALREADY BEEN NOMINATED FOR A GOLDEN GLOBE WHICH IS A GOOD SIGN. CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT SEASON THREE OF SQUID GAME?
It’s better than season two.
