‘Squid Game’ Creator Applauds T.O.P’s Bold Comeback: “I feel that it took him a lot of guts”

The second season of Squid Game, called Squid Game 2, was released on Netflix on December 26, 2024. Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, it stars Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun, and several new actors.

The story takes place three years after the first season and follows Seong Gi-hun as he returns to the deadly games with a new goal, competing with new players for a prize of ₩45.6 billion. Meanwhile, Hwang Jun-ho teams up with the military in a side story to find Gi-hun.

One of the new cast members is Choi Seung-hyun, who plays Choi Su-bong, also known as “Thanos.” Choi, better known as T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, and actor. He started as an underground rapper and debuted in 2006 as the lead rapper for BigBang, one of Asia’s most popular and successful music groups.

In July 2017, T.O.P was sentenced to 10 months in jail with a two-year suspension after being found guilty of using marijuana, which is illegal in South Korea. After the scandal, he was banned from the Korean entertainment industry, and his career seemed to be over.

Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk told PEOPLE that he was impressed by T.O.P’s performance in the show and explained why he chose him for the role. He pointed out that T.O.P hadn’t worked in Korea for nine years because of the scandal, making this role a big comeback for him.

Hwang praised T.O.P for his courage in playing a character—a rapper who uses drugs—that reflects some of his own past struggles, calling it a brave and bold decision.

As you may know, the actor Seung-hyun, about nine years ago got involved in a marijuana scandal in Korea and wasn’t able to do any projects for the past nine years in Korea. And so this is a comeback after quite a long hiatus, and particularly because he portrays a character that’s a rapper and also someone who is on drugs.

I feel that it took him a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too. So I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.

Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character.

Source

After being indicted in June 2017, Choi Seung-hyun (T.O.P) posted a handwritten apology to his fans on YG Entertainment’s website. He expressed deep regret for disappointing people and said he felt too ashamed to face them directly.

Choi took full responsibility for his actions, saying he deserved any punishment. He apologized to fans, his group members, his agency, friends, and family for the hurt he caused and promised to reflect on his behavior. He also apologized again for not being able to speak to everyone personally.

After the indictment, Choi was hospitalized during his military service after being found unconscious from an overdose of prescribed tranquilizers. YG Entertainment later confirmed that he woke up and was moved to another hospital for psychiatric care.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!