Broke Streaming World Record
This might seem obvious because the show has seemingly taken over the world, but Squid Game has made TV history by becoming the most streamed show on Netflix in the history of the platform. It has gained major international success.
Broke Streaming World Record
Concept Created In 2008
Show creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk actually came up with the concept of the show way back in 2008. He was inspired by his family, who he has described as being poor, faced difficulties while faced with a significant amount of debt.
Concept Created In 2008
Rejected For A Decade
The script took a year to write and was finished by 2009, however it was rejected many times over the next 10 years. It was finally picked up by Netflix in 2019, which ended up being an amazing decision by the company given the massive success of the show.
Rejected For A Decade
Too Violent For Commercial TV
Hwang Dong-hyuk believes that the show was not a great fit for commercial TV. He said: “At the time, it seemed very unfamiliar and violent. There were people who thought it was a little too complex and not commercial.” He abandoned pushing the show until Netflix called him in 2019.
Too Violent For Commercial TV
Meant To Be A Movie
Hwang actually wrote the script to be a movie at first, but then he realized it would work better as a serialized story, which meant it was better for a TV format. Having multiple episodes meant he could delve into the relationships between the characters as well as more details of the deadly games of the show.
Meant To Be A Movie
Not In The Original Script
Turning Squid Games into a TV format also allowed Hwang to give the audience more subplots, including Jun-ho’s undercover cop plot line. It’s interesting that his character becomes a central one and even helped Wi ha-joon become well known as a serious dramatic actor.
Not In The Original Script
Named After A Children’s Game
Hwang shared that the show was named after a children’s schoolyard game that he played while he was growing up. It helped create a dramatic contrast between a game that’s played by children and the deadly games that are shown in the show.
Named After A Children’s Game
Mirror Image Of Society Today
The game of Squid Game, which is shown in the last episode of the first season, was described as “one of the most physical and it’s also one of my favorite games,” by Hwang. He said that the kid’s game reflects “the image of today’s society” in reference to the increasing national debt in South Korea.
Mirror Image Of Society Today
Leading Roles In Mind
Before the show even began, Hwang already had an idea of which actors he wanted to play Gi-hun and Sang-woo. He knew that he wanted actors Lee Hung-jae and Park Hae-soo to play these central roles. When it came to casting for characters like Sae-byoek, Il-na, and Ali, he knew that he wanted lesser known actors.
Leading Roles In Mind
Played By A Supermodel
Sae-byeok, who quickly became a fan favorite, is played by HoYeon Jung, who is a supermodel that appeared in Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013. She has been called “one of Korea’s most beautiful women” and has appeared on the cover of Vogue.
Played By A Supermodel
New York Fashion Week
While HoYeon Jung was participating in New York fashion week, she auditioned for the role of Sae-byeok. It was her very first audition, and she sent it in on a video. When Hwang saw it, he knew that she was perfect for the character. It is her first role, but it’s clear that she has a bright future in acting.
New York Fashion Week
Moved From India
Anupam Tripathi plays the role of Ali and is originally from India. He moved to Korea in order to pursue acting. According to Hwang, it is very tough to cast foreign actors in Korea, but he was immediately impressed with Tripathi, who speaks fluent Korean. He said he nailed the audition and audiences connected to his emotional performance once the show came out.
Moved From India
Originally A Boy
Ji-young, played by Lee Yoo-mi, teams up with Saw-byeok when they face one of the most psychologically challenging games in the show, the game played with marbles. Hwang shared that Ji-young was actually first written to be a boy, but he changed his mind because he wanted to explore the relationship between two women faced with this challenge.
Originally A Boy
Modeled From Old Textbooks
The huge robot doll, which could be described as an animatronic murder doll, was first seen in the first episode of the show, when the participants took part in the deadly “Red Light, Green Light,” game. The doll was based on illustrations from old Korean textbooks from the 70’s and 80’s called Younghee and Cheolsoo.
Modeled From Old Textbooks
Dalgona Expert Hired
In episode 3 called “The Man With The Umbrella,” we first see the dalgona candy that has now become a phenomenon. The crew brought in a “honeycomb master” in order to create the real candy to be used while filming. The actors shared that when the candy expert was on set, it always smelled amazing while the candy was cooking.
Dalgona Expert Hired
Larger Than Life
Each of the playground sets were designed for every episode. They were designed to make the players feel like they were children again, and the sets included bunk beds and play equipment. The sets were therefore built to be exaggerated in size and did not require any CGI because they were actually built to be larger than the actors.
Larger Than Life
Tug of War Scene
The deadly Tug of War game was filmed using a machine that “pulled” the other end of the rope in order to make it look more real. The reason for this was because the actors said that it was much harder to pull the rope this way, and so the scene looked even more authentic.
Tug Of War Scene
Glass Stepping Stones Game
The scene featuring the morbid “Glass Stepping Stone” game was specially designed to make the actors feel anxious, and according to HoYeon Jung, it certainly worked, as he described filming that scene as “terrifying.” Real tempered glass panels were used and were installed about 5 feet above the ground, which actors said was high enough to be quite terrifying.
Glass Stepping Stones Game
The Coffin Gift Boxes
The victims of the games were transported in a gift box looking coffin that featured a large bow before they were carted off to be incinerated, or worse. Hwang shared that they wanted to show the coffins wrapped up like gift boxes to indicate that the game creator felt he had given the participants a gift. He has a god complex and these twisted coffins help symbolize that.
The Coffin Gift Boxes
Incinerator Room Inspiration
One of the many reasons that these “gift” box coffins being rolled into the incinerator room was so disturbing was the fact that its inspiration came from one of the darkest times in our real history. Hwang confirmed in an interview that the room was modeled after the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Incinerator Room Inspiration
Bonding Off-Screen
Actors were encouraged to spend time together off screen in order to foster real friendships and increase their on-screen chemistry. HoYeon Jung and Lee Yoo-mi became quite close, just like Lee Jung-jar and Park Hae-soo. Jung said: “Yoo-mi is more experienced in acting and she’s a great actress. When I talked about my concerns in acting, she was always very considerate. Since I trust her, we talked about many things. So I think it all wrapped up nicely. I’m still thankful for her.”
Bonding Off Screen
Blooper Made The Final Cut
Lee Jung-jae shared that cast members were allowed to improvise while filming scenes, especially while multiple takes were filmed. He said his favorite scene to film was the one where Gi-hun attempts to put a straw back into Sae-byeok’s coffee but keeps on missing. HoYeon Jung laughed so much that she had to hide her face. The blooper scene was left in the final cut.
Blooper Made The Final Cut
Original Title
While we couldn’t imagine Squid Game with any other name, when it was first revealed by Netflix back in 2019, it was originally titled “Round Six.” It was also considered to be called “Squid Game: Play To Die,” before the final, shorter title was chosen.
Original Title
Filmed In Just One City
The show was filmed in just one city. It was filmed in Daejeon, which is about an hour outside of Seoul. The reason it was filmed in only one location was that it meant that there was more budget available for the elaborate sets to be constructed.
Filmed In Just One City
Pricey Production Cost
Speaking of elaborate sets, they look high quality for a reason. The production cost for Squid Game ended up costing 20 billion won, which comes out to about $16.9 million. According to Bloomberg, Netflix paid about $20.8 million for the series, but Netflix has not confirmed this claim.
Pricey Production Cost
Minimal CGI
Although the show has a distinct dystopian futuristic feel, this was accomplished with minimal CGI. A lot of people made the comparison with another Netflix show, Black Mirror, when describing the soul-sucking feeling that the show left them with. It’s amazing that this was able to be accomplished without a lot of CGI manipulation.
Minimal CGI
Massive Cast
In addition to the huge sets that were created for filming, there was also a huge amount of people used to fill up the sets. For the “Red Light, Green Light” game, there were over 400 actors used, so the reason why it looks like there are a lot of people there, it’s because they actually were.
Massive Cast
Tracksuit Allergies
According to Hwang, the material used to create the teal tracksuits that all of the participants wear were similar to “old gym clothes,” and they actually ended up making the sets become “really dusty.” That meant that a lot of actors had allergic reactions and difficulty breathing, with some actors’ “face even turned red because of allergies.”
Tracksuit Allergies
Most Terrifying Scene To Film
While there are plenty of horrifying scenes in the show, all of the actors agree which scene was the most terrifying to film. According to HoYeon Jung, “Filming stepping stones was actually terrifying. The game was real and they felt real fear.”
Most Terrifying Scene To Film
Inspired By Art
The gravity defying steps featured in the headquarters were actually inspired by optical illusion illustrations like “Relativity” by MC Escher and “La Muralla Rosa” by Ricardo Boffil. These steps certainly add a psychedelic quality to the headquarters.
Inspired By Art
Walls Gave Hints
If you take a closer look, the dorm walls feature drawings that give clues to which games will be waiting for the participants. This is even clearer as the number of beds are reduced after each game.
Walls Gave Hints
Amazon Warehouse Style
If you took a look at the sleeping dorm and thought that it looked more like a warehouse, there’s a reason for that. According to Hwang: “The art director proposed a warehouse store concept. Rather than treating them like people, she suggested the contestants be presented like objects piled on the warehouse shelves.”
Amazon Warehouse Style
Early Life Inspiration
Park Hae Soo, who portrays Cho Sang-woo, said that he was inspired by Hwang’s early life and his experiences at Seoul National University. Both he and Hwang actually attended the prestigious school, and it helped him flesh out his character.
Early Life Inspiration
Her Debut Acting Role
Jung Ho-yeon had never acted before landing her role in the show. However, she is an experienced model and has worked with the likes of Chanel, Fendi, Marc Hacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Bottega Veneta. She shared with Vogue that: “When I’d travel by myself on airplanes and stay at hotels, I spent most of my days just watching movies. [Afterward] I thought more and more about myself and my position in humanity at large. Who was I? What does it mean to be human? The need to answer those questions was what brought me to acting.”
Her Debut Acting Role
Inspired By Donald Trump
Hwang shared that Donald Trump was a partial inspiration for one of the VIPs. He told IndieWire: “I think he kind of resembles one of the VIPs in the Squid Game. It’s almost like he’s running a game show, not a country, like giving people horror.”
Inspired By Donald Trump
Inspired By Fencing Masks
If you think that those masks look familiar, it might be because they were inspired by masks used by fencers. They were also inspired by traditional Korean masks that are called Haehoetal that were worn in the Hanoe Pyolshin-gut t’al ceremony in the 12th century. They represented stock characters that performed roles in dance dramas.
Inspired By Fencing Masks
What The Shapes Mean
Have you wondered what the different shapes on the masks mean? They were actually inspired by ant colonies and are an indication of the hierarchy within the staff. The circle represents the worker that is on the bottom of the hierarchy. The triangle represents a soldier, who is also armed. The square represents a manager, who are the ones with the most power and who oversee the soldiers and workers.
What The Shapes Mean
Alternative To Hot Pink Jumpsuits
Originally, the guards were meant to wear Boy Scout uniforms instead of the hot pink jumpsuits. The Boy Scout uniforms were abandoned because they showed the men’s figures too much, and the jumpsuits were chosen instead because they made the guards “look like ants in an ant colony” and more “anonymous.”
Alternative To Hot Pink Jumpsuits
First Month Total Netflix Viewers
Squid Game was watched by a total of 111 million Netflix users within the first 28 days of its release, making it the platforms most successful show to date. It smashed Bridgerton‘s record set in 2020 when 82 million users watched.
First Month Total Netflix Viewers
No Prior Marketing
Interestingly, the show was a smash success despite the fact that Netflix didn’t bother to heavily market the show in the United States, which is the platform’s biggest market. The show’s popularity grew tremendously thanks to word of mouth recommendations and glowing reviews from the press.
No Prior Marketing
