Netflix's dystopian thriller Squid Game is back for its second season, three years after the K-drama took the world by storm, and became one of the streamer's most-watched shows. The moving but brutal series, which follows a group of contestants who volunteer in a life-or-death game for the chance at a 456 million won (about $38 million) grand prize, left fans with several cliffhangers, especially with its subplot following "hot cop" Hwang Jun-ho. As the detective infiltrated the games in search of his older brother, Squid Game season 1 ended with Jun-ho getting shot by the Front Man and falling off a cliff.
Luckily, season 2 confirms that Jun-ho survived his near-drowning, meaning Wi Ha-joon could reprise his role as the officer determined to shut down the games and reunite with his brother. The 33-year-old actor is a rising star in South Korea, whose career has skyrocketed since Squid Game propelled him to global fame. Read on for everything we know about Wi Ha-joon, including which of his projects to check out after Squid Game season 2.
Wi Ha-joon grew up on an abalone farm.
Wi was born in August 1991 and grew up on an island in the South Jeolla Province of South Korea. During an appearance on the variety show Problem Child in the House in 2021, he revealed that his father runs an abalone farm and sells the expensive shellfish that's popular in South Korea.
He has starred in several hit K-dramas since the first season of 'Squid Game.'
Wi made his acting debut in a short film in 2012 and has worked steadily in a mix of blockbuster Korean movies and hit K-dramas. His first lead film role was in Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, a 2018 Korean horror film based on a real-life psychiatric hospital. In a 2018 Arirang interview, he revealed that he wanted to play a villain since he was young. He got his wish in 2021's Midnight, playing a serial killer who terrorizes a deaf woman.
Before Squid Game, he held smaller roles in K-dramas including Something in the Rain, 18 Again, and Romance is a Bonus Book. Since season 1's success, he's starred in several hit shows, including the thriller K-dramas Bad and Crazy and The Worst of Evil, the Netflix melodrama Little Women, and the Netflix historical K-drama Gyeongseong Creature. Earlier this year, Wi had his first lead role in a romance K-drama in the series The Midnight Romance in Hagwon.
He says Jun-ho is the character that's most similar to his real-life personality.
Wi has been vocal about his love of his character Jun-ho. In a 2021 Men's Heath Korea interview, translated by My Music Taste, he recalled his initial reaction to the hit show. "I read the script in a blink of an eye, and I was just blown away by how immersive it was. It was something that I’ve never seen before and I loved the character, Hwang Jun-Ho, so I decided to star in the series."
In a 2023 fan meeting in the Philippines, Wi revealed that Jun-ho is the role he has played closest to his real-life personality. "When I was preparing for this role, the people around me were telling me, 'Wow, you're really similar to that role,'" he said at the time, per ABS-CBN. "And I also agree with that because I myself, I also have this sense of justice."
He has opened up about feeling anxious following the success of 'Squid Game.'
In the wake of Squid Game's success, Wi has seemingly worked non-stop, and he's opened up about the pressure he felt following the show's release. In a 2022 interview with Dazed Korea, translated by Soompi, Wi shared his thought process, admitting that he had the goal of staying "consistent" since the beginning of his career.
"When I started out playing minor roles after my debut, I repeatedly made up my mind: ‘If there ever comes a time when lots of people take an interest in me, let’s not be happy one day and sad the next. Let’s be consistent. Let’s not hear people say that I’ve changed, and let’s be humble.’ I kept telling myself things like this," he told the outlet.
"I also think it might just be my nature," he continued. "Rather than love myself endlessly, I’m the type to scold myself, and I tend to be more nervous rather than overflowing with confidence. When Squid Game got that kind of response, one part of me was so happy, but another part of me was anxious."
"I’d like to be consistent, but it’s in the nature of an actor’s profession that if audiences don’t see you for even a short period of time, your recognizability fades, and you’re quickly forgotten," he concluded. "So because I didn’t want to get my feelings hurt later on, I think I might have been trying to use that mindset as a way to protect myself somehow. I also worried that if I didn’t pull myself together like that, I might become complacent and too relaxed."
He's a great dancer.
Since Squid Game blew up, fans have shared Wi's throwback clips on social media. In one clip from a 2016 appearance at a fan event called Star, Wi danced to TWICE's song "Cheer Up" alongside other celebrities. He didn't just do the dance justice, he went full out on the adorable girl group choreography.
Now, dancing is a regular feature of Wi's fan meetings, or showcases where Korean actors interact with audiences of fans and often perform K-pop dance covers.
wi hajoon dancing to twice’s cheer up in college 🥹 pic.twitter.com/PFnZhIVnRNSeptember 27, 2022
He enjoys hanging out with his niece.
Though his Instagram feed is mostly selfies and promo for his acting projects, he occasionally shares shots from a coffee shop or the gym. He's also posted several videos of himself spending time with his young niece, including a video of them playing on a swing set, which he captioned, "With my beloved princess."
