“Squid Game” creator explains why season 2's trans woman character is played by a cis man

One of the breakout new characters in Squid Game season 2 is Hyun-ju, a transgender woman who is a former special forces soldier entering the game to win money to complete her gender-affirming surgery. Player 120 was both fierce and compassionate during the bloody competition as she made friends and saved lives both in the games and during Gi-hun's (Lee Jung-jae) rebellion against the guards. However, many viewers were surprised to find out the fan-favorite character was actually played by a cisgender man, actor Park Sung-hoon, and not an actual transgender woman.

Creator/writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk told TVGuide.com that he expected that kind of response, but revealed the "heartbreaking" reason why he didn't cast a transgender female actor in the role.

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"I did anticipate such discussions to arise from the first moment I began creating the character Hyun-ju," Hwang told the outlet. "In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor... When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently, the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking."

Hwang added that it was "near impossible to find someone who we could cast authentically" as a trans woman. "And that led us to the decision to cast Sung-hoon," he said. "I have watched his work [playing many queer roles in Korean projects] ever since his debut, and I had complete trust in him that he would be the right person in terms of talent in portraying this character."

There are very few examples of other trans characters in Korean shows, which is why Hwang wanted to include that representation in season 2 since "it is not as widely accepted yet."

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"I saw the people who come to join the games in Squid Game as people who are usually marginalized or neglected from society, and not just financially speaking," Hwang told Decider.com. "In season 1, the representative character for that was Ali, who was a foreigner working in Korea, which is one of the most representative minority groups in Korea... Today, unfortunately, in Korean society, the gender minority is a group that is not as accepted widely within society, which is why I created the character Hyun-ju as a male to female transgender woman."

Related: Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun breaks down season 2's Front Man twist: 'Gave me the chills instantly'

Throughout season 2, Hyun-ju speaks about her life and challenges as a trans woman, including the discrimination she faced in her career and relationships. Creator Hwang hopes that including her story in Squid Game can help "raise awareness of these issues" many still face today.

Squid Game season 2 is now streaming on Netflix, and will return with season 3 in 2025.

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