Who is the frontman in Squid Game? Lee Byung-hun explains Player 001 in Season 2

Lee – who has directed popular Korean series Mr. Sunshineas well as Hollywood films, including 2016 The Magnificent Seven – enjoyed finding out the truth about the frontman while juggling the three different roles of the frontman, Player 001 and In-ho, the man he was before the games. For the actor, the experience was “intense and very demanding” – and also rewarding.

“The most important thing in bringing this character to life in Season 2 was the constant discussion of expression (in each scene) with the director,” he says. “Giving different nuances to each of these three aspects (of the frontman) was the biggest challenge for me as an actor – and also the most fun.”

According to Lee, Episode 6 features the clearest portrayals of all three of his roles in one scene. In this episode, the participants of the Squid Game play “Mingle,” in which they are tasked with forming a specific group and entering a locked room together. During a round in which the group number must consist of exactly two people, Front Man (or Player 001, to everyone around him) and the trusting player Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) enter a room where there is already one another person is located. In order to reduce their group number to exactly two, the frontman kills the stranger quickly and easily, strangling him and then breaking his neck. Front Man doesn’t even blink. Jung-bae can only stare in horror at the horrifying image.

“This single scene features In-ho, Yong-il and the frontman,” says Lee. “There was such a rush of mixed emotions that I felt something very unique and strange there. I hope that’s something the audience can also feel when they see this scene.”

Lee was able to pull off this kind of performance through consistent collaboration with director Hwang. While the actor jokes that he’s “almost annoyed.” Squid gameWith all his questions, Hwang, the creator of ‘s, says he couldn’t be happier with the end result. The author calls Front Man’s decision to enter the game under the guise of Player 001 “the most important aspect of the second season.” The resulting existential struggle between Front Man and protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is the central tension of the new episodes: while Front Man has given in to his dislike of society, Gi-hun continues to believe that people can be selfless .

“Front Man returns to the game to educate Gi-hun – to teach Gi-hun and make him think about the world and humanity the way he does,” Lee explains.

The new season is peppered with moments in which front man can almost convince Gi-hun to adopt his way of thinking. In one of their first conversations in the game, Front Man tries to change how Gi-hun views his first season winnings by telling him that saving the money won’t bring his fallen players back to life. He then reminds Gi-hun about the game’s new voting element – which requires players to vote X (go) or O (to continue) – is flawed. Even if Front Man had chosen X After Red Light, Green Light, it is unlikely that his fellow players would return to a happy life or thank him for his decision. Later in the season – after the aforementioned Mingle scenario – Front Man Gi-hun tells a cold truth that Player 456 cannot reckon with: Team X will only win if more of the other side’s players die this round. Every achievement in the game is covered in blood.

But Gi-hun’s optimism also rubs off on Front Man. “At some point you feel that he is actually enjoying the game. He’s excited, he’s nervous,” Lee explains. “While he returned to the game and wanted to change the way Gi-hun saw the world, on some level he subconsciously looks at Gi-hun refusing to give up the hope he has for humanity and that reminds him. “In-ho of himself.”

Gi-hun’s compassion is so infectious that “there’s a very small part of Front Man that actually supports Gi-hun along the way,” says Lee. However, the character’s loyalty to his frontman persona is too strong. In the Season 2 finale, he crushes the players’ rebellion and returns to his cape and black mask. In a final attempt to strip Gi-hun of all his faith, Front Man kills Jung-bae. Lee believes Front Man must have experienced “mixed emotions” before pulling the trigger on someone with whom he recently shared such camaraderie. But for the frontman, the game always comes first.

“Since his biggest goal is to make Gi-hun realize he was wrong, he wanted to take the most extreme route possible to make his point,” Lee says.

Although Front Man spends most of Season 2 in a player’s tracksuit, Hwang explains that by the end of Episode 7, there’s no denying who he really is. “(Jung-bae’s murder) is really the highlight of season two,” Hwang says. “You could say that Front Man starts the season with his mask off, but then returns to himself. He ends Season 2 with his mask back on.”

So keep coming back to Tudum to find out what’s next for Front Man Squid game The third season will debut in 2025.

Meet the cast of Squid game Season 2