‘Squid Game’ star Lee Byung-hun felt ‘isolated’ while portraying Front Man

Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man in “Squid Game.” Image: Facebook/Squid Game

Lee Byung-hun got candid about his portrayal of the Front Man in the third season of the hit Korean series “Squid Game,” saying it was really hard for him as he felt “isolated” from the rest of the cast during filming.

In an interview shared on the TV series’ Facebook page on Monday, June 30, Byung-hyun and his co-star Lee Jung-jae discussed the scene in which the Front Man gave the latter’s Seong Gi-hun a weapon to kill his remaining opponents in the game.

“Acting while wearing a mask was really hard. When I was acting as a player, there were a lot of people and we’d chat nonstop in between takes, so it was never dull and always fun,” Byung-hun said, referring to when he portrayed the role of player Young-il.

“Sitting there all alone with the mask on, I could barely see in front of me. I felt so isolated,” he stated. “Of course it was convenient that I didn’t have to wear makeup, [but] it had its ups and downs.”

Byung-hyun further talked about the complexity of his role as they reacted to the scene where the Front Man recalled being a player of the game and who brutally killed his opponents.

“Imagine how hard it was to act this,” Byung-hun said.

Nodding in agreement with his co-star, Jung-jae underscored, “Scenes like this really make you realize how well the script was written.”

Byung-hyun then admitted, “I felt bad while filming this scene. It was so brutal. I had to act but it made me feel weird.”

He added that he dove deeper into his character’s past to effectively portray what has become of the latter after the exhaustion from brushing with death and facing betrayals.

Speaking about the show, Byung-hyun continued, “It really feels like a series that captures human psychology well.”

The third season of “Squid Game” was released on streaming platform Netflix last June 27. /ra