In Squid Gameit’s not just the games that have the potential to give you goosebumps. Long before the return of Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) within the deadly competition in season 2 of the Korean series which does not take off from the top Netflix, another moment marked subscribers. In the first episode, the team recruited by Gi-hun goes in search of the famous recruiter (Gong Yoo), in charge of finding players. After spotting him on the subway, Choi Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho) and his boss track him to a park. They then discover the sadistic and creepy game he indulges in : he offers homeless people a scratch card or a brioche. Most choose the game and the recruiter ends up destroying all the buns in front of the hungry people. A particularly destabilizing moment, during which Gong Yoo shows the extent of his talent, like a little later in the episode with the confrontation between Gi-hun and his character during a “game” of Russian roulette.
Squid Game : the creator of the series explains this creepy scene with the recruiter in episode 1
After analyzing the end of season 2 of Squid Gamehaving explained the post-credits scene and responding to criticism of the interpreter of Hyun-ju, the creator of the series, Hwang Dong-hyeok, gave explanations on this particularly cruel scene to the English site RadioTimes. “I think Gong Yoo’s character, the recruiter, is a person who has lived a difficult life, he has hit rock bottom, like those characters who are homeless in the series. He is a person who is filled with hatred, this is seen in the hatred he devotes to others. By hating them, he thinks he is different from them“, first confided the creator of the Korean series. Before adding: “He shows and expresses his hatred for those who chose gambling over bread, as if trying to escape his own nature“.
Lee Jung-jae was “impressed” by Gong Yoo on the set of Squid Game
In addition to this scene, the character played by Gong Yoo also plays a game of Russian roulette with Gi-hun at the end of episode 1, a scene in which the actor is creepier than ever. “Even though his appearance was brief in the series, it was impactful and I was completely in awe of his performance.” said Lee Jung-jae, Gi-hun’s interpreter, who added: “He is not just charismatic but also demonic in this scene. He is physically frightening and that shows his talent as an actor.“
Who is Gong Yoo, the recruiter’s interpreter in Squid Game ?
Aged 45, Gong Yoo is a particularly popular actor in South Korea where his filmography includes both successful series, but also films known around the world. For example, he was the hero of Last train to Busanreleased in 2016. On the series side, he made himself known in particular in The 1st Shop Coffee Prince (available on Netflix) and gained popularity with Guardian: The Lonely and Great Godreleased in 2016 in South Korea. Netflix subscribers were able to see it in 2024 in the film Wonderland and in the series For only luggagewhich ranked in the top in more than 40 countries. In 2025, he will shoot a new fiction for the streaming platform in which he will opposite Song Hye-kyo, the star of The Glory. This series entitled Slowly but Intensely will explore the lives of Korean stars during the Korean War.
