Steve Spielberg
(Picture: Getty Images)Director Steven Spielberg has landed himself in hot water after calling the cast of Netflix’s global hit Squid Game “unknown people”.
The Hollywood superstar appeared at a PGA Awards panel on March 19 and talked about the impact that the show had had one the entertainment industry.
He also praised Netflix for casting actors that were lesser-known, at least in the West.
The K-drama Squid Game became an international sensation when it was released in 2021, becoming Netflix’s biggest show ever, with an incredible 111m viewers watching the show within the first 28 days of its release.
The South Korean drama, which starred Lee Jung-jae, Gong Yoo and Lee Yoo-Mi, told the story of a group of people competing to win a cash prize by taking part in a series of deadly childhood-themed games.
Spielberg congratulated the streaming service Netflix for not relying on bankable names to ensure the success of the show, even though many of its stars were already famous in South Korea and across Asia before it came out.
“A long time ago it was domestic stars that brought the audience into movies,” he said. “Today, it’s interesting, unknown people can star in entire miniseries, can be in movies.
“Squid Game comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us.”
He then gestured towards Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos, adding, “Thank you, Ted.”
Spielberg’s statements were a part of the panel’s discussion on whether it was important to cast well-known actors in lead roles in order to create successful projects.
However, his comments have caused outrage online, with many pointing out that the Squid Game lead actor, Lee Jung-jae, was one of South Korea’s biggest stars and has starred in many critically acclaimed films.
One commented online exclaimed that they were “so irked by Seven Spielberg’s comments”, adding that “we Americans need to look at the world around us & stop being so full of ourselves.”
Another called Spielberg’s remarks “a poor choice of words”, while somebody else wrote, “you’d think that somebody like spielberg [sic] would do his homework or AT LEAST be respectful.”
The furore comes months after Netflix confirmed that Squid Game would be returning for a second series, with Sarandos saying that a second season was being fast-tracked into development.
Hwang Dong-hyuk, who directed the first season, also confirmed that he would be returning and hinted that at the fate of the Front Man.
“It’s like Darth Vader. Some [winners] end up Jedi and some become Darth Vader, right? I think that maybe Gi-hun will go through a certain critical point where he is put through a test as well.”
