“I expected such discussions to arise from the first moment I started creating the character Hyun-ju,” Hwang told TV Guide. “In the beginning we did research and I thought about doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.” This process proved to be a challenge for the Squid game Crew. “When we researched Korea, there were almost no actors who were openly transgender, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately the LGBTQ community is currently marginalized and neglected in Korean society, which is heartbreaking.”

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Compared to those in the United States and other Western countries, South Korea has few LGBTQ rights. South Korea has not legalized same-sex marriage – only three places in Asia have done so – and discrimination against the LGBTQ community is widespread. In July, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can receive the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples. Amnesty International described this move as a “historic victory” for equality and human rights in the country. However, the organization also called on lawmakers to “further protect the rights of LGBTI people in South Korea by legalizing marriage equality and enacting a comprehensive anti-discrimination law.”

Given this, the number of Korean actors who openly identify as LGBTQ is small. When it comes to LGBTQ representation in the entertainment industry, Hollywood is miles ahead of many parts of the world.

“It was almost impossible to find someone we could cast authentically,” Hwang continued. “And that led us to the decision to cast Sung-hoon.” The director has long been familiar with the actor, who recently starred in Korean hits, among others The fame And Queen of Tears. ““I have seen his work since his debut and had full confidence in him that he would be the right person to portray this character in terms of his talent,” Hwang said.

Casting cisgender actors as transgender characters was common in Hollywood as recently as the last decade, but discussions have evolved as the transgender community has gained more visibility in the industry. Trans activists argue that casting cis actors in trans roles has the potential to harm the community by perpetuating stereotypes. In this case, casting a cis man instead of a cis woman to play a trans woman could reinforce the misconception that trans women are actually men pretending to be women.

Squid game Season 2’s Hyun-ju will be among a very small group of trans characters who have appeared in Korean dramas. The most commonly cited example is Itaewon classThis is Ma Hyun-yi, a transgender woman played by actor Lee Joo-young, a cisgender woman. In 2020 when this series came out, Itaewon class was praised for portraying Hyun-yi as a multidimensional character and for being a rare case of LGBTQ representation in K-dramas. Since then, there have been few examples of trans characters with significant storylines in K-dramas.

While Squid game will certainly spark further conversations about the importance of authentic casting, but the inclusion of Hyun-ju in the series could still have a positive impact on LGBTQ representation outside of the US

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Season 1 of squid Game is available to stream on Netflix. Season 2 premieres on Netflix on Thursday, December 26th.