Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is addressing criticism over the show’s casting of a cisgender man to play a trans woman in its highly anticipated second season.
In an interview with TVGuide.com published on December 17, the writer and director said that while he initially hoped to cast a trans actor for the role, it was “near impossible” to find an out trans performer in South Korea.
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Netflix’s hit South Korean thriller series sparked controversy earlier this month when the streamer released a “Meet the Cast” video featuring new cast members introducing fans to their characters. In one clip, South Korean actor Park Sung-hoon confirmed that his character, Hyun-ju, is “a former special forces soldier and a transgender woman.”
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Apart from denying a trans actress a high-profile job, casting a cisgender man to play a trans woman reinforces the insidious, anti-trans perception that trans women are “really” men. In recent years, actors and advocates like Jen Richards and GLAAD’s Nick Adams have drawn a direct link between audiences seeing cis men playing trans woman on TV and in films and the epidemic of violence directed at trans women — particularly Black trans women.
Following the release of the Squid Game cast featurette, critics on social media blasted Park’s casting as a transgender woman, with many questioning why the show’s creators didn’t hire an actual trans actress to play the role.
In response, Hwang told TVGuide.com that he “did anticipate such discussions to arise from the first moment I began creating the character.”
“In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor,” he explained. “When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking.”
“It was near impossible to find someone who we could cast authentically,” he said. “And that led us to the decision to cast Sung-hoon.”
Still, as U.K. outlet the Independent noted earlier this month, simply including a transgender character in a South Korean production like Squid Game is “a big deal.” Despite the problematic nature of Park’s casting, TVGuide.com’s Kat Moon suggests that his character could nonetheless “move the needle” on trans representation in the country.
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