Actress Park Kyung-young (32) joined the global hit 'Squid Game' wearing a pink suit.
The Netflix series 'Squid Game' Season 2 depicts the fierce competition between Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), who returns to participate in the game seeking revenge, and the Front Man (played by Lee Byung-hun), as the real game begins again. Park Kyung-young appears as a Pink Guard, a North Korean defector with a military background and a game facilitator.
According to the official Netflix statistics released on the 1st, 'Squid Game 2' recorded 68 million views (the number of views divided by the total running time of the work) just four days after its release on December 26 last year, ranking first in the global top 10. It set a record for the highest viewership in its release week and became the 7th most popular non-English series in Netflix history based solely on its first-week record.
In a recent interview, Park Kyung-young expressed her amazement at the enthusiastic response to 'Squid Game', saying, "I've appeared in Netflix works several times, but this level of viewership is something I've never experienced before, so it doesn't feel real. It's fascinating and I'm just grateful." She added, "It was fun and unique to experience interesting and large-scale events from the promotion stage. The amount of press coverage was enormous," she laughed.
When asked if her Instagram followers increased, she replied, "I think all the actors' numbers went up. I'm grateful. The most surprising thing was that I thought it was a twist to participate as a Pink Guard, but there were many comments about it in various foreign languages, which stood out to me. No one around me hasn't seen 'Squid Game'. They asked if I was a Pink Guard and many reached out saying they binge-watched it until dawn."
She continued, "I kept a self-imposed embargo for a year and a half after being cast," joking, "I didn't even tell my parents about my role."
Park Kyung-young also shared her thoughts on joining the global hit 'Squid Game' Season 2 with a new character.
She said, "Season 1 was an unprecedentedly successful series, and I am grateful for the hard work of many actors. It would be a lie to say I wasn't burdened, but my main concern was how to portray my role well. With many actors appearing, whether the role is small or large, I had to act in a way that the audience could understand the emotions of my character," she said.
She continued, "I participated in the role after two auditions, and when I received the script, I found out I was a soldier. I was interested in the participant role and wanted to do it, but I was more excited and grateful to have a role that could explain a new worldview. I liked that I could explain a new storyline," adding, "It's a series loved worldwide, and having the opportunity to appear in any role is something that might not happen many times in an actor's life. Just being able to audition is a blessing."
Regarding her character No-eul, she explained, "The setting was that she could speak standard Korean after living for seven years after defecting. It was my first time using a firearm, so I practiced by attending an action school. While filming as a Pink Guard, I felt lonely and shot many scenes alone, and when wearing the suit and mask, I couldn't hear or see well. But wearing the pink suit was fun and exciting," she shared her feelings about wearing the pink suit.
She added, "No-eul has no will to live, but the only hope is to find her daughter. When she saw Lee Jin-wook's child, she must have thought of her own daughter. I tried to find the character's justification in scenes where I held hands to express the bond between No-eul and the child or when I carefully touched the child in the hospital."
She continued, "I thought becoming a soldier was the last hope in her life. No-eul is not a character who sleeps in a car because she has no money. She thinks she doesn't even deserve to buy a house and drives herself into darkness. In the story, her emotions about saving Lee Jin-wook's daughter and the daughter she left behind seem to have been the trigger for her to throw herself into the game."
Park Kyung-young is also in the same agency as Jung Ho-yeon, who gained worldwide fame for her role as Sae-byeok in 'Squid Game' Season 1.
When asked what she talked about with Jung Ho-yeon, Park Kyung-young replied, "I couldn't talk about my role for security reasons," and added, "Both of us are quite easygoing, so I thought (Jung) Ho-yeon would just have fun with it."
After appearing in Netflix works like 'Sweet Home' and 'Celebrity', Park Kyung-young humorously said, "I think I am now Netflix's daughter."
She mentioned that she started studying English after joining 'Squid Game', saying, "I'm still studying hard. I had opportunities to meet foreign media before, but I wanted to communicate a bit more, so I started learning. If there’s a chance, it would be good to be prepared for everything," she joked.
She added, "This might be a significant turning point in my acting career," and expressed her gratitude, saying, "Just being seen by someone is a blessing, but it's amazing to think that people in 93 countries are watching me. I want to work harder and show a better side of myself in the remaining years of my 30s."
Finally, regarding the upcoming release of 'Squid Game' Season 3, she said, "I believe many questions will be satisfactorily answered in Season 3, so please look forward to it."
[Yang So-young, Star Today Reporter]
