Earlier this month, a teaser for Season 2 of Netflix’s Squid Game caught the queer community’s attention for all the wrong reasons. It introduced a trans character, Hyun-Ju, who was entering the deadly games to pay for gender-affirming surgery. The only problem? She was being played by a cisgender man, actor Park Sung-hoon.
The casting choice immediately sparked backlash from western audiences. “Could they not cast an actual transgender woman… this gonna piss me off,” read one viral reply on social media.
Entertainment with an edge
Whether you’re into indie comics, groundbreaking music, or queer cinema, we’re here to keep you in the loop.
Now, in a new interview with TV Guide, series director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has explained why casting an actual trans woman proved very difficult in South Korea.
“I did anticipate such discussions to arise from the first moment I began creating the character Hyun-ju,” Hwang said. “In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.”
Those good intentions proved fruitless, Hwang continued: “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.”
Related
Finally some good news
This height difference is the stuff dreams are made of.
Indeed, South Korea is lagging on queer rights. Gay marriage is still illegal, and a November 2023 survey by Pew Research Center found that in South Korea, only 41% of adults support same-sex marriage while 56% oppose it. However, things are looking up for queer rights in the country, with a landmark Supreme Court decision this summer ruling that South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service must grant gay couples the same marital insurance benefits as straight couples. Still, out and proud queer folks are rare in Korean culture, lending some credibility to Hwang’s claim that the role of Hyun-Ju was “near impossible to … cast authentically.”
Instead, the series cast Sung-hoon, who Hwang was a longtime fan of. “I have watched his work 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,” he said.
Beyond her casting, if the character of Hyun-Ju will provide Squid Game with quality queer representation remains to be seen. Season 2 releases on December 26. Check out the trailer below.
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
