Netflix responded to the criticism regarding the lack of a female cast in the second season of Squid Game.
On June 17, Netflix held their annual TUDUM 2023 global fan event and teased the cast of the upcoming second season of the hit South Korean series Squid Game.
Among the announced cast are the recurring characters including Lee Jung-Jae who played the lead role Seong Hi-Hun in the first season, Lee Byung-Hun who played the frontman of the games, Wi Ha-Jun who played the detective Hwang Jun-Ho, and Gong Yoo who played the mysterious recruiter.
Other confirmed ‘new players’ are K-Pop idol-turned-actor Im Si-Wan, When the Camelia Blooms’ Kang Ha-Neul, The Glory’s Park Sung-Hoon, and musician and actor Yang Dong-Eun.
Fans of the series noticed that there is no female cast announced during the teaser.
This is an amazing cast??? But kinda wild not a single woman is featured https://t.co/F2utyyHdPA
— Tamar Herman is not here anymore (@TamarWrites) June 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/SSadiW8/status/1670492659356508161?s=20
The first season of the series featured and gave prominence to various actresses including model and actress Jung Ho-Yeon, Lee Yoo-Mi, and Kim Joo-Ryoung.
Jung Ho-Yeon is among the breakthrough artists from the series garnering numerous nominations including an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.”
As such, a Netflix spokesperson shared with Insider that the teased characters are only the initial cast and they’ll be unveiling the leading female characters in an upcoming casting news.
“This was the first cast announcement for Squid Game season two. We’re excited to share more casting news soon, which will include the leading female characters” the Netflix spokesperson said.
Squid Game 2 will be helmed under the direction of Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the creator of the show who is also an executive producer of the series.
The second season is set to start filming in July, though there is no slated release date yet.
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