The wait is almost over. The survival thriller still topping the Netflix most watched list of all time is coming back. 

After getting out of the game alive, Seong (played by Lee Jung-jae) decides to go after the ones behind the games, getting himself into another dangerous adventure. Will he succeed and will we have another round of the games? That’s something that you will have to discover yourself. Meanwhile, we met with the award winning writer-director, Mr. Hwang Dong-hyuk, to find out more about the second season of the hit series, including what was the most difficult part of making it and what were his main inspirations. 

Why do you think people love this show so much?

I went on writing it thinking that it will be for sure an entertaining story. The basic story – children games played by grown-ups while their lives are at stake, for a huge cash prize – felt like it was enough to hook the viewer. And top of that, I believe the visual elements helped a lot – the masks, the pink soldiers, the game, the bunk beds – they seem to be from a brutal fairytale. It is very odd, strange, beautiful and intriguing at the same time. And probably the depiction of the violence within a capitalist system resonated with a lot of the viewers.

What’s the main focus of season 2? 

How Seong Gi-hun gave up to go see his daughter and is now set on finding those behind the games. How will he track them down and will his efforts to go back into the game island to stop them will succeed or fail – that’s the main storyline.

I know the original script was first written as a feature film, many years ago. Was the story in this second season part of that script or is this one entirely new?

The script that I wanted to turn into a feature film has ended with the first season, it doesn’ have anything to do with season 2. Everything you will see is completely newly created. 

I could sense in the first season a bit of Park Chan-wook’s cruelty and Hirokazu Koreeda’s sensibility. What were your main inspirations for the second season?

It’s hard to pinpoint a singular source of inspiration and honestly speaking, season 1 was the only resort I could really depend on. I had to go back to the first season and go through it in such a detailed manner, trying to find any element that I could use, or give it a twist. So you could say season 1 was my main source of inspiration. 

I had to go back to the first season and go through it in such a detailed manner, trying to find any element that I could use, or give it a twist. So you could say season 1 was my main source of inspiration. 

 

What were the biggest difficulties you encountered while filming for season 2?

No part of shooting the second season was easy. First of all, there are hundreds of supporting actors appearing on screen, so the overall scale is much bigger. Having to control all of those actors while focusing on the entertainment factor and making sure that each character came off the screen as very convincing – all of it was a huge challenge. But probably the biggest one was the second game which you will be able to see once the show launches. There were so many different factors to take into consideration while shooting. 

Tell me 5 things that people should know about the second season.

The first one would be Jung-bae, he’s a very important character. The second one would be this man called Officer Kim, he actually was the lone shark that was chasing Seong Gi-hun [the protagonist] in Season 1, so he’s also returning to the second season, plus one more character – he’s this broker who helps people leave North Korea. And aside from this, I think it’s so much better when you go in to watch the show cold rather than knowing more about it. Make sure to go back and watch season 1 again to see if you can find these three characters because  it will be more entertaining to watch the second season after you know who they are.

Season 2 will be out on Netflix on December 26th, read our review for a refresher on the much acclaimed season 1.

Laura Mușat

Film producer and founder of ADFR, she dreamed since she was little of having a magazine one day. Alongside her job as editor-in-chief, she writes the interview of the month. She loves animals, jazz music and films festivals.