Get to Know the Cast of Squid Game

The last but most important player to join the games, Lee plays a bumbling, debt-ridden absent father who, at times, you want to root for. However, Player 456 is far from the ruthless roles Lee's played in the past.

Player 218, once his neighborhood's pride and joy, plots his way through the game to ensure that he takes home the massive cash prize — no matter what it took. Following the success of his troubled, back-stabbing character, he's taken on a new role that has changed his life for the better: becoming a dad.

The North Korean defector is on a lonely, treacherous journey to win money to reunite with her younger brother. Sae-byeok's tough exterior is only guarding a selfless older sister who is willing to sacrifice her life for her family's wellbeing. Jung's acting debut has opened doors for her to continue her path while she conquers the fashion world as a top model.

The player who has the least to lose and the most to reveal is played by the veteran actor, who has been turning down every commercial offer he's received so far since the show aired, according to Soompi. Oh noted that his newfound fame has gotten him so many calls that his daughter has had to step in and help because Oh does not currently have a manager.

Oh made his first appearance after the release of Squid Game on MBC's "How Do You Play?" for a special interview with Yoo Jae Suk and Lovelyz's Mijoo. During his interview, he revealed that "being famous is tough" for him and that, since he was the oldest actor on set at 77, he would go "overboard in pretending to be young in order to match their energy." He also shared some wisdom on how he plans to proceed following the show's record-breaking success.

"I don't have any grand ambitions," he told hosts Yoo and Mijoo. "Big or small, I've received a lot of things while living my life. Now, I want to leave behind those things that I've received."

"To put it simply, let's say you go to a mountain and see a flower. When we're young, we pick the flower and take it for ourselves. But by the time you reach my age, you leave it there exactly as it is, and you go back to see it again later on," he continued. "It's the same with life. Leaving things exactly the way they are. It isn't easy."

The one character you want to protect throughout the series is Ali: a struggling undocumented factory worker from Pakistan who needs to earn money for his young family. The good-hearted player is too pure for the games and eventually betrayed before he can get to the final challenge.

As for Tripathi's real-life story, the New Delhi-born star broke into the South Korean entertainment industry after winning a scholarship and studying acting at Korea National University of the Arts. Tripathi was able to master Korean in less than two years, according to Variety, and he's since landed parts in 2014's Ode to My Father and 2016's hit drama Descendants of the Sun.

Player 212 brings her own type of chaos to the game. The cigarette smuggling, loud-mouth bully meets her death while seeking revenge.

Kim was selected to play the role of Han by director Hwang Dong-hyuk, having previously worked with him on the movie Silenced in 2011. She compared her character to "riding a rollercoaster" during an interview with OSEN in October. "She is a changeable and ugly beauty, but on the inside, she is lonelier than anyone and fears people more than anyone else."

The ring leader and villain loses his life once karma catches up to him.

Playing the macho gang leader would be one of Heo's great success stories, but in real life, it took a major toll on his health. After seeing that Heo had lost a lot of weight during the pandemic, director Hwang Dong-hyuk was concerned that he looked too "scrawny" to play the alpha villain, according to Allkpop. So Heo gained more than 30 lbs. in a month, which wreaked havoc on his health.

The police officer who goes rogue to find his missing brother sneaks his way into the games and discovers the horrors of the Squid Game corporation. By the end of the series, audiences are left wondering if Hwang is still alive or dead.

The ominous Front Man finally takes off his mask toward the end to reveal who he is and how he got to be the head of operations for the games. His true identity leads to complicated family issues that have fans wondering if they'll explore his backstory in season 2. The actor is, of course, mega star Lee Byung-hun.