Squid Game season 2's star Lee Jung-jae says he felt "horror" stepping back into the arena on the Netflix show: "It's a kind of feeling that I would never forget in my life"

Squid Game season 2 (2024)
(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix's hugely popular, ultra-violent show Squid Game is coming back for a second season, and it seems like it will be just as brutal as its shocking first season. The new episodes follow protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) as he returns to the arena to try and take the games down from the inside.

Naturally, this means he'll be returning to the arena where he watched 455 of his fellow contestants die. It's a dark place to pick up with the character once again, and as actor Lee Jung-jae explained to GamesRadar+ and other press at a recent roundtable for Squid Game season 2, it was difficult as an actor to return to that world.

"Well, I actually didn't know that I would reprise my role as Gi-hun," The Acolyte star explained. "So when I knew that I was going to play Gi-hun again, I had mixed feelings, and I still remember the day when I first set foot on the game arena for the production of season two, and when I opened the door to the set, I felt this horror, this sense of horror.

"All the memories of season one, playing those games with all my fellow cast, it all came back to me. And I could actually feel Gi-hun's trauma once again. They were all just coming back to me like big, giant, gigantic waves. And I was thinking, 'Wow, I'm actually setting foot on this set once again.' It's a moment and it's a kind of feeling that I would never forget in my life."

As teased in the latest Squid Game season 2 trailer, Gi-Hun's journey to take down the Front Man leads him back to become Player 456 again. This time around, new games and new challenges will await in the Squid Game arena as he races against time to stop more people from being killed.

Squid Game is released on Netflix on December 26. For what to watch now, check out our guides to the best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies currently available.

Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

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