On December 18, NBC talkshow “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” released an episode featuring actor Lee Jung-jae on its official YouTube channel.
Jimmy Fallon greeted Lee Jung-jae and mentioned the last time they met via Zoom call 2~3 years ago, before the actor became globally known with the hit Netflix series “Squid Game”. Showing a photo of Emmy Award-winning Lee Jung-jae, Jimmy Fallon asked the actor about that moment. In response, Lee Jung-jae shared, “That night, since both Director Hwang and I won, it was twice as surreal. Even now, just thinking about it, my heart is about to burst, it’s hard to put it into words. It was a really great night. It was unimaginable.” adding that he placed the Emmy trophy in the center of his living room.
Jimmy Fallon then asked Lee Jung-jae how he made his acting debut. The actor confessed “Honestly, back then I was preparing to work for an interior design company and then I got a part-time job in a coffee shop. And a part-time modeling job was suggested to me, and it turned out it paid a lot more than the bar paid me, so I thought I’d take it“, adding”And that modeling job led to me being cast as an actor. And I thought I’d save a little more and quit,” adding “I didn’t know that this would be the beginning of such a long career. I never imagined that I would star in something like ‘Squid Game’.”
Jimmy Fallon then showed a photo of Lee Jung-jae’s Crunky chocolate advert 30 years ago and the two recreated the scene together, drawing laughter.
Later, Jimmy Fallon asked Lee Jung-jae about the second season of “Squid Game,” which will premiere on December 26. The actor shared his busy promotion schedule for ‘Squid Game 2’ and shared, “Because Season 1 was so loved, we felt pressure on whether or not Season 2 would be as loved. However, our story has become more diverse, deeper, with a very clear theme. So I don’t know if I can say it will be as successful, but what I can say is that it’s just as well done.”
He added, “Many people will be killed and I will do my best to stay alive,” drawing a big laugh from the audience.
“Squid Game 2” tells the story of Sung Ki-hoon (Lee Jung-jae) who returns to the survival game after vowing to take revenge. It will premiere on Netflix on December 26.
