Showrunner Sit-Down: Hwang Dong-hyuk ('Squid Game' Creator)

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk sits down with Variety’s Kate Aurthur as part of the Showrunner Sit-down series. Hwang discussed what he’s learned from watching fans’ Squid Game videos on YouTube, his favorite scene from Season 1, and his shock that children were watching the show. He also talked about his biggest career disappointment, and what he still wants to do as a creator.

“During the first two or three days after the launch of the show, I couldn’t really get a sense of how it was doing. Being the number one show on Netflix in the United States, that was something I really wanted to achieve. It was a dream of mine.”

When Squid Game was released, it quickly became Netflix’s most-watched show. Hwang describes his experience of that rise in popularity as both unexpected and a dream come true. Hwang recounts that when his dream of U.S. popularity for Squid Game came true, he started receiving Facebook messages from friends, claiming that their neighbors were talking about the show. Seeing his neighbors watching it and witnessing people viewing it on their phones while out in the streets, Hwang realized that Squid Game was creating a response beyond his expectations.

“I did think about if we were to, given the chance, to create another season, I just had very vague ideas about maybe what kind of story I would want to tell in the next season.”

Despite feeling that the end of Season 1 was a good end to the series, Hwang admits that there were many small, “loose knobs” planted throughout Season 1 that he didn’t include and put aside for further expansion. While he did consider ending the series within the first season, those “loose knobs” of information led him to contemplate a second season. As of this interview, Hwang has only recently started writing for Season 2 of Squid Game.

“I tried to take a closer look at where and how global audiences react to the series, so I tried to see in which elements they responded strongly.”

To Hwang’s delight, he believes his intentions with the show were well delivered based on watching people’s reactions on YouTube videos. Rather than having learned something from Season 1, Hwang thinks that through seeing reactions, he gained a certain level of confidence to trust his instinct. However, because there are a lot of global fans of the series, elements in the first season were obvious to Korean audiences, but not understood by the global audience. For example, Hwang references a scene in episode two of Squid Game where the character Sang-woo was sitting in a bathtub. Many viewers didn’t realize Sang-woo was attempting to commit suicide at that moment. Knowing this frequently occurred among the global audience, Hwang desires to pay closer attention to each scene for possible revision. 

“It’s [Red Light, Green Light game] not one scene, but the whole sequence. That scene was in my mind for a long time; for ten years. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if it comes out really good or not, you know, because it might be so awkward or like something strange or bizarre, rather than exciting to watch.”

There’s a moment in the first season when one of the VIPs says that the Korean games are the best ones, suggesting that there are similar games around the world. When asked about the scope of this mysterious organization behind Squid Game, Hwang admits that it is difficult to tell at this moment in time. This is due to the second season not being written, but Hwang believes there will be other versions of the Squid Game from other countries within the series. After all, Hwang admits that he hinted at the possibility in Season 1.

In addition to announcing the directorial debut of actor Lee Jung-jae for Season 2 and the return of actors from Season 1 like Lee Byung-hun, Hwang also discusses his favorite scene in the entirety of Squid Game. As it turns out, the first game, “Red Light, Green Light,” was Hwang’s favorite scene. While shooting the scenes involving “Red Light, Green Light,” Hwang grew confident enough to believe the scene would be remembered around the world; he was right to think so.

“Well, what’s unique about the series is that it is a very actual juxtaposition of the real and surreal. It’s almost like a large fable or an allegory.”

In character Seong Gi-hun’s final confrontation in the sky building with character Oh Il-nam, Il-nam talks with Gi-hun about how his rich clients created the game. When talking about writing that scene, Hwang reveals the game is a metaphor for those that have power and money desire to move and control the world that everybody lives in. For this scene, Hwang wanted to focus on the dynamics and the relationship between Gi-hun and Il-nam as a clash of their beliefs. This clash is externalized through their bet on the homeless man located outside the building.

“I never thought of this story and this series only pertaining to Korea and Korean audiences. I did not think it was a uniquely Korean story.”

The interviewer Kate, referencing Hwang’s talk about global audiences missing details noticed by Korean audiences, asks Hwang how he viewed the show’s audience as Korean versus the international viewers while creating Squid Game. Hwang claims he never intended to have the series pertain solely to Korean audiences. He felt that the issues within the series were either currently happening or waiting to happen in every part of the world. Hwang strived to create the series as a story filled with characters and situations that anyone could relate to.

“We went through countless versions of the visuals and art. Actually, in the very first draft that I had written, the participants were dragged to a deserted factory. The people that were hosting the event definitely had masks on, but they definitely did not wear hot pink jumpsuits.”

When asked about the popularity of the show amongst children, to the point where many dressed up as characters from Squid Game for Halloween, Hwang was quite surprised. He never predicted or expected that kids would watch it, let alone enjoy it. He reasoned that those kids aren’t watching the series but, instead, watching the highlight clips of Squid Game through YouTube. Hwang is against children watching his series as it is intended for audiences aged nineteen or older in his home country of South Korea. However, under strict guidelines for older teens, Hwang believes it’s okay for them to watch and talk about the show.

After discussing the popularity of Squid Game among the children, Hwang moves on to discuss the visuals. He explains that the main concept of the entire visual had to do with what was inside the mind of the character Oh Il-nam. Il-nam designed the settings based on his childhood and desire to be a part of the game. Hwang tried to think like Il-nam and concluded that the background for the series would be a space that was very much like Il-nam’s childhood; a place he wishes to return to.

“I think I always come to the trust in humanity the goodwill. And I feel that that is the very last hope, the very last string of hope that we all hold in our hands while living in a bleak world.”

Kate then asks Hwang if there are any throughlines and common themes in his works, to which he replies that he wonders the same thing. From Hwang’s perspective, his creations are so different from each other based on the genres alone. He reasons that if there is one commonality among his works, it is his trust in the goodwill of humanity. No matter how sad and troubling the world may be in his films or in real life, Hwang believes that there is hope held by everyone.

Unfortunately, not all his works live up to his expectations. Hwang reveals that his biggest career disappointment was his latest film, The Fortress. Its poor performance at the box office hurt Hwang, especially since he claims that The Fortress was close to his ideal of creative work. Nonetheless, Hwang maintains his guiding principle of always trying something he hasn’t done before. Hwang hopes to continue developing creative works with a message that influences society.