On December 1, Netflix Korea’s official YouTube channel released a video titled “The cast of Squid Game Season 2 reacts to the Pentathlon”.
In the video, Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae, Kang Ha-neul, Lee Seo-hwan and Jo Yu-ri reflected on their scenes and shared behind-the-scenes moments from “Squid Game 2.”
When the “5-person, 6-legged race” scene accompanied by Shin Hae-chul’s classic song “To You” was played, Lee Byung-hun commented, “I didn’t think they would actually use this music. We always edit on location during filming. At the time the director asked us, almost jokingly, what we thought about the use of this music. I remember all the actors and staff laughed for a long time, because this song is already known as a fight song. The episode is a real bloodbath, so I thought using such a hopeful fight song would really capture the irony of the situation. Well, it seems the director decided to go with this song.”
Jo Yu-ri, who hit the ddakji game in one shot, revealed: “I have been practicing ddakji since I shot the “Red Light, Green Light” scene. I got good during rehearsals, but on the day of filming I struggled a bit.”
Kang Ha-neul talked about his jackstones (gonggi) scene”I practiced a lot for that“, to which Lee Seo-hwan added: “He practiced a lot, but the actual movements were performed by someone else. You should thank that person.” The credits of “Squid Game 2” reveal the name Park Jong-nam as “Jackstones Hand Double”. Park Jong-nam is renowned as a master of jackstones, having appeared in SBS’s “Life Perfectionist.”
Lee Jung-jae also shared a laugh, recalling Lee Byung-hun’s intense concentration during the 5-person, 6-legged race. He said: “Byung-hun was completely absorbed in the game.” Lee Byung-hun explained: “The character In-ho coming and wanting to destroy everything is what you could say is the big picture. When the game is on the line and In-ho is truly part of the team, he finds himself truly enjoying himself. This duality made acting both challenging and fun.“
One particularly memorable moment was when Lee Byung-hun slapped himself in frustration after failing to spin a top, which left viewers stunned. He revealed”I slapped myself really hard. The director asked me to shoot it in one take if possible, and I think we did about three takes. Not because they were worried about me getting hurt, but because they were worried about bruises showing, which makeup couldn’t cover.”then laughed.
Lee Seo-hwan added: “The funny part is that Byung-hun was so good with the spinners that we kept getting NG. He could spin it around blindfolded or even just throw it carelessly behind him, and it would still work perfectly.”
Lee Byung-hun shared his secret: “A few months before filming, the production team gave me the top to practice with. I spent some time learning how to quickly tie the rope and cast it successfully. This practice really paid off during filming.“
