While the entire cast and crew of Netflix’s megahit Squid Game all did a great job, if there’s a “breakout star” of the bunch, it is likely Jung Ho-Yeon (HoYeon Jung), who plays the North Korean defector and pickpocket Sae-byeok (Number 67), who quickly became a fan favorite in the series.
Many were arrested by her looks, and there’s a reason for that. Before this, HoYeon Jung was not an actress at all, she was a model who has been on the cover of both Vogue Japan and Vogue Korea, and was previously Models.com’s Model of the Year in 2017.
Squid Game is quite literally Jung Ho-yeon first acting credit outside of video shorts, to the extent that she doesn’t even have a photo on IMDB yet. But her role on Squid Game has sent her popularity skyrocketing.
Since the show was released, Jung Ho-yeon has become the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram. And since the series’ release on September 17, she had gone from 410,000 followers to 15 million in barely three weeks, a stat pointed out to me by HypeAuditor.
She’s not the only Squid Game cast member to see a surge. By last count Wi Ha Jun (Hwang Jun-Ho, the undercover cop) has gained 5.2 million followers on Instagram. Lee Yoo-mi (Ji-yeong, who had a short but extremely memorable role opposite Sae-byeok in the marble game) has gained 4.4 million followers.
This is not uncommon for Netflix or streaming series in general, as here’s HypeAuditor’s Alexander Frolov commenting on the trend:
“Social media, and in particular Instagram, is a main channel for Netflix and other streaming services to promote TV series. We saw that by the end of 2020, many actors from other Netflix, Hulu, or HBO shows were among the top 100 growing accounts of the year. For example, both Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things gained 9.7M subscribers and Zendaya Maree Stoermer from Euphoria, also grew by 18.2M subscribers in 2020.”
As for Jung Ho-yeon in particular, it’s unclear what’s next for her.
Squid Game spoilers follow.
She clearly cannot return to the show for season 2 other than in some sort of convoluted flashback, as she was killed off by Sang-woo and was the third place finisher. And yet it’s easy to imagine how her rise to ultra-fame in Squid Game will land her another role somewhere soon. Netflix has been doing a lot of Korean dramas as of late, and Squid Game is only going to increase their investment there. I would not be surprised to see her showing up in one of them. Expect more from her soon, and a few more magazine covers to boot.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series, and The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook.
