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

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Squid Game season 2 finale.

The man behind the Front Man on Squid Game is just as shocked as you are about his chilling season 2 twist.

As Gi-hun, a.k.a. Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), dedicated his life to ending the deadly game, the Front Man, a.k.a. In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), didn't sit back and allow that to happen. The previous winner-turned-overseer entered the game as Player 001 in disguise and manipulated Gi-hun by pretending to be his friend and ally. He ultimately betrayed Gi-hun by sabotaging his rebellion against the guards in the finale. But he didn't stop there — In-ho then got back into his Front Man disguise to execute Gi-hun's best friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) right in front of his face in a brutal cliffhanger ending.

Related: Squid Game creator, stars break down season 2 finale cliffhanger ending

"When I first read the script, and when I got to that part at the end of episode 3 where you reveal that it's the Front Man who's taking part in the game, that scene gave me the chills instantly," Byung-hun tells Entertainment Weekly. "I was thinking about, how am I going to bring to life, the way he carries on the game as Yong-il. This is going to be quite a challenge as an actor, because within the games, he's part Front Man, part In-ho, but then he's also part Yong-il, which is the fake persona that he creates and introduces himself as."

The actor adds that it was difficult to portray all three sides to the character, and to figure out which persona needed to come through in each scene. "How I'm going to control each aspect of him, that was my main focus," Byung-hun says. "Because within the games, I had to have moments where you could see all of them — Front Man, In-ho, and Yong-il — from just my acting. And I also thought that it was a brilliant idea on the director's part."

Despite the Front Man's secret double-life scheme, it seemed as if Gi-hun's rebellion was actually going to succeed in the season 2 finale. He led a group of players as they killed a legion of guards and stole their guns and ammo in the dorm, and Gi-hun and Jung-bae almost made their way to the control room. But Gi-hun had no idea that Player 001 was actually the Front Man, who swiftly sabotaged the rebellion behind-the-scenes by killing many of the players before he shot Jung-bae in front of Gi-hun while wearing his Front Man mask.

Related: Squid Game creator explains season 2 finale credits scene

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"The days I spent on set filming those scenes when the Front Man is part of the game as Yong-il, even though it's just two games, it actually took us a few months," Byung-hun says. "It's almost as if we had formed that same sense of camaraderie working alongside the other players for those few months. So, in a way, to get to that [finale betrayal] moment, it felt bittersweet. I felt like this is our goodbye."

Dropping the Yong-il persona to film that scene was a pivotal moment for the actor. "To become the Front Man, to be back in that position from the Front Man's perspective, that's the point where he decides to really teach Gi-hun a lesson by getting rid of his best friend," Byung-hun says. "That was when I also felt like, this is definitely going to be a moment when the audiences are going to be very shocked."

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

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly