“Squid Game” Director Hwang Dong-hyuk: “It’s a Losers Story”

For its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, they were part of his childhood in South Korea. “We’ve all played these simple, childish games at some point,” he told CNN.

Among those Hwang played as a child was the titular “Squid Game,” a team game involving attackers making their way through a loosely squid-shaped area, with defenders trying to stop them. . “It was very physically demanding, and so every time we played someone got hurt, torn or cried,” he said. “It would still be the last game of the day.”

“As an adult, the question ‘what would it be to go back and play those childhood games again?’ was the beginning of the creation of the whole series. ”

Released in September, “Squid Game” – about debt-ridden contestants in a series of games for deadly children – is currently set to become Netflix’s most popular show, reaching number one in 90 countries. , including the United States. .

For Hwang, the show’s narrative reflects the “competitive society” we live in today. “It’s a story of losers,” he said – those who struggle with the challenges of everyday life and are left behind, while “the winners get better”.

It is also a personal story. The two main characters, Seong Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo, are named after his old friends, and he calls them his “inner clones”.

In the show, contestants participate in a series of deadly children’s games. Credit: YOUNGKYU PARK / NETFLIX

“They represent both sides of me. Like Gi-hun, I was raised by a single mother in a financially difficult environment in Ssangmun-dong,” he explained. “At the same time, like Sang-woo, I went to Seoul National University and my whole neighborhood congratulated me and expected a lot from me.”

Producing the show was an intense experience, with Hwang losing six teeth during filming due to stress. But that didn’t completely deter him from making a second season.

“Writing, producing and directing a series on his own was really a huge task. When I think about doing the same for season two, I’m personally a little worried,” he said. “There is nothing confirmed yet, but so many people are excited that I am really considering it.”

Watch the video to learn more about Hwang’s plans for season two and other surprising facts about the series.