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Spoilers below.
When season 2 of the global hit drama Squid Game premiered on Netflix, actress Park Gyu-young immediately went to YouTube to see live reaction videos from fans around the world. “Watching all of that was so fun for me,” Park says through an interpreter over Zoom from Seoul.
Her biggest joy from the videos? Seeing everyone react to her character’s major plot twist.
In the second season of the series, Park plays No-eul, an enigmatic North Korean defector who works tirelessly at an amusement park to fund her search for the child she left behind during her escape. With her story paralleling Sae-byeok’s (Hoyeon) in season 1, all signs pointed to No-eul becoming a player in the games.
But, in an unexpected turn of events, No-eul entered the island as Guard 011, one of the faceless pink soldiers.
“I actually feel very proud, too, having landed that twist,” Park beams as she imitates several of the YouTube responses she found. “I loved watching them react in such a huge and exaggerated manner when they saw I was a pink guard.”
Park—who has previously starred in K-drama hits like Celebrity, It’s Okay Not to Be Okay, and A Good Day to Be a Dog—feels relieved to finally be able to talk about her character’s journey. Even after two rounds of auditions, she was never told about the role she’d be playing. But it didn’t bother her. She just wanted to be part of the series. “As a fan, I was extremely intrigued and drawn to the story,” she says. “To be part of that universe, no matter what character it is or what role it is, it is something that I was strongly drawn to.”
When she finally learned about No-eul after being cast, she was excited to begin filming, fascinated by the merciless middlemen between the doomed players and the game’s corrupt ultra-rich benefactors, and how these soldiers are able to murder on command. “When I watched the first season, I would look at the pink guards and think to myself, ‘Who are these people?’” Park recalls. “Are they, in fact, even people? [We never] got a glimpse into their world. We don’t get that explanation. To know that I’d be taking on a role that allows for viewers to learn a little bit more about the pink guards, their backstories, what kind of sentiment they carry, and what kind of emotions they experience gave me a lot of pride in my character.”
Below, the actress talks about developing her character, whether she considers her a villain, and what to expect from season 3.
Season 2 is a hit and reached No. 1 on Netflix in several countries. How has the response been for you since the season premiered? Was it liberating to be able to talk about your role now?
Because [my role] was one of the major twists of the second episode of the show, I had my hopes high because I wanted to make sure that the twist landed [for] everybody. When it was finally revealed, and the people around me were taken by the surprise, it felt very rewarding. I was very grateful, happy, and relieved to be able to talk about the character being a pink guard.
What drew you to the second season of Squid Game?
I think what intrigued me the most about the first season was seeing how these brutal and extremely cruel decisions are constantly being made. Whether it’s about yourself or against others, they’re portrayed in a way that’s almost oddly beautiful because they are juxtaposed next to this very fairytale-like space and [these] childhood games. The way those themes were explored against that backdrop was extremely shocking and original. I loved the storytelling format.
Park Gyu-young (center) behind the scenes as Kang No-eul , with director Hwang Dong-hyuk (right).
No one is truly who they say they are in Squid Game. What were you told about your role?
It was after the auditions had been over and I was cast that I got the script and learned that I would be taking on the role of No-eul, who carried this very deep darkness about her. [She] also had a very strong inner sense of herself. I remember having many conversations with the Director [Hwang Dong-hyuk] about the backstory of No-eul, and how characters should be portrayed from an outward appearance and how I wanted to convey her inner strength and toughness.
No-eul was a former North Korean soldier who defected, leaving behind her child, and is now working for the Squid Game. How did you prepare for such a dark role? What research did you put into the psyche of this character?
Rather than going into factual research about North Korean defectors per se, I focused more of my energy into learning and thinking about how painful it must have been to go through those series of events that she went through, the sense of immense loss and guilt that she had to carry. Those were the questions that were at the top of my mind, and [I wanted to] make sure that kind of energy peeked through externally, especially after she enters the game. In order for my performance to match her occupation of a soldier, whether it’s action training or learning how to use firearms, I had to go into preparation in that sense too.
There seems to be a connection between No-eul and Gyeong-seok’s daughter, Na-yeon. Can you tell me about her feelings towards this family?
I focused my efforts on that emotion when you have something that is so precious to you—if not, the most precious thing to you. It becomes a part of who you are. It becomes a part of your soul. So, going through a loss of something like that—or the fear of losing something like that—[gives you this] intense urge to want to protect that. That’s where her connection to Gyeong-seok comes from.
No-eul refuses to participate in the organ side business within the Squid Game. She kills off potential organ donors, giving the players mercy killings rather than subjecting them to such brutality. What is going through her mind?
This is something that I find myself thinking about in a new perspective and more deeply through a series of interviews. When it comes to a human being coming face-to-face with their own death and also the act of killing someone within that, there is a minimum level of human dignity that one has to pay from one human to another. What is the minimum level of respect that you should be paying the other human being? What are the ethics that are related in that process? How do these things come about? In what form do they emerge? I think those are some of the things that you can see through my character. To have these people meet such tragic deaths and then have something happen where their organs are being sold off, it’s an immense cruelty and extremely unethical. No-eul wants to prevent that from ever happening. She wants to make sure that by letting them instantly die, they may rest in peace. I also think from No-eul’s perspective, that was the minimum ethical approach that she wanted to [give] those deaths.
How do you see No-eul in this story? A villain? Hero? Antagonist?
Due to the nature of the character and being a pink soldier, she is someone who kills other people. It’s hard to say for sure how I think or view her. She is someone who thinks about what it means to be humane and what human dignity should look like. Because of her beliefs, she is sometimes attacked [by the other guards]. However, she has the strength to still push through with her beliefs and stick to her principles.
Was there a scene in Squid Game that really impacted you, either performing it or watching it?
As a viewer, one thing that left me quite in shock was when we realized the Front Man is back in the game. It was a very impactful scene to watch. I think the universe within Squid Game is just a series of all these different events and choices that people make. There are so many different interests that are involved. There are a lot of people’s goals and things they pursue. Everything is just so intertwined. There’s a lot of endless conflict and choices. Rather than picking a particular scene, the overall organic flow of the story with its twists and turns was just shock after shock.
What can you tell us about your character’s journey going into season 3?
I can say that, amidst all of the confusion and clash of different ideas, No-eul is a character who has a very strong set of beliefs. She sticks to her own values and has a very strong center at heart. She may seem weak, but she is very determined and strong.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.