Yesterday was a milestone moment for Asian filmmaking. Lee Jung-jae, the Korean lead male actor from Squid Games, made history by not only getting nominated for Best Actor in a Drama series, but also winning the category as he took home the Emmy over his US-based counterparts.
I’m really happy for Lee Hung-jae and the whole cast of Squid Games. They produced the single-most revolutionary TV show in the past few years for the Asian filmmaking culture as they produced a show that became a massive success in both South Korea (the home of many of the cast and location of the production) and the United States (the home of much of the entrainment world).
Moreover, Squid Games became the most successful television show in Netflix’s 25-year history as the show garnered a whopping 1.65 billion hours viewed by households.
To put that in perspective, Stanger Things Season 4 came in second with 1.35B hours viewed, Money Heist part 5 in third with 792.2M hours, Bridgeton Season 2 in fourth with 656.2M hours, and Bridgeton Season 1 in fifth with 625.5M hours.
Yeah, Squid Games beat out Bridgeton and Stranger Things as the most popular show in Netflix’s history (in terms of hours watched). That’s just simply incredible.
And a lot of that success is down to Lee Hung-jae and his portrayal of Seong Gi-hun.
The struggles of the divorced, indebted Gi-hun are truly relatable and heartbreaking as he desperately tried to regain custody over his beloved daughter by entering into the deadly Squid Games, which would have allowed him to win enough money to pay off his debts and regain his custody over her.
In essence, it was a classic story of redemption, struggle, and courage mixed with the creative imagination of director Hwang Don-hyuk (who also won an Emmy for directing).
Sure, the story is a little “bizarre” as Hwang Dong-hyuk once said, but the character of Seong Gi-hun masterfully created a relatable, meaningful connection to the audience and the Squid Games universe. What parent wouldn’t go to extreme lengths to keep their child in their care by entering a strange, wacky, and deadly game to do so, especially when said parent is in a dire financial state?
Simply put, without Lee Hung-jae’s believable and memorable performance, Squid Games would have sadly failed and have been seen as just some “bizarre” Korean show with no heart or soul. That’s how good Hung-jae’s performance was.
Thus, this Emmy win of Best Actor in a Drama series was more than well-deserved as he not only helped Squid Games reach an unforeseen and unprecedented height of popularity and success, but also has opened the door for Korean actors and T.V. shows in the mainstream filmmaking media.
Television producers and studios can no longer outright reject Korean projects just because they are “Asian” or they “don’t speak English” thanks to Squid Games and Lee Hun-jae. And that fact is even more meaningful than this Emmy award.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Television Academy) (Lead Actor in a Drama Series: 74th Emmy Awards – YouTube)
