Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk is heaping praises on T.O.P!
During an interview with PEOPLE, Hwang opens up about his decision to cast the controversial actor T.O.P in the series, who had been blackballed from the Korean entertainment industry since 2017 after being found guilty of using marijuana.
"This is a comeback after quite a long hiatus,” the director said of K-pop star, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun.
He went on to share, "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," Hwang added.
Seung-hyun played Thanos, a famous rapper turned erratic Player 230 who uses drugs while competing in the deadly games, in the series.
In July 2017, Choi Seung-hyun was given a 10-month jail sentence and a two-year suspension from his mandatory military service after he was found guilty of using marijuana, an illegal substance in South Korea, per Korean news outlet, Yonhap.
Season 2 of Squid Game is currently streaming on Netflix.
