Lee Byung-hun Turns Out to Be a Spinning Top Master “It Spins Perfectly, Causing NGs” (Squid Game 2 Behind-the-Scenes)
On December 1, Netflix Korea’s official YouTube channel released a video titled “Squid Game Season 2 cast reacts to the Pentathlon”.
In the video, Lee Byung-hun, Lee Jung-jae, Kang Ha-neul, Lee Seo-hwan and Jo Yu-ri reflected on their scenes and shared behind-the-scenes moments from “Squid Game 2”.
When the “5-person, 6-legged race” scene accompanied by Shin Hae-chul’s classic song “To You” played, Lee Byung-hun commented, “I didn’t think they’d actually use this music. We always edit on the spot while filming. At the time, the director asked us semi-jokingly what we thought of using this music. I remember all the actors and staff laughed for a long time, because this song is already well-known as a fight song. The episode is such a bloodbath, so I thought using such a hopeful fight song would really capture the irony of the situation. Well, it looks like the director decided to go with this song.”
Jo Yu-ri, who nailed the ddakji game in one take, revealed, “I practiced ddakji since filming the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ scene. I got good during rehearsals, but on the actual shoot day, I struggled a bit.”
Kang Ha-neul talked about his jackstones (gonggi) scene “I practiced a lot for that“, to which Lee Seo-hwan added, “He practiced a lot, but someone else did the actual moves. You should thank that person.” The “Squid Game 2” ending credits reveal the name Park Jong-nam as the “Jackstones Hand Double”. Park Jong-nam is renowned as a jackstones master, having appeared on SBS’s “Life Perfectionist”.
Lee Jung-jae also shared a laugh, recalling Lee Byung-hun’s intense focus during the 5-person, 6-legged race. He said, “Byung-hun was completely absorbed in the game.” Lee Byung-hun explained, “The character In-ho coming in and wanting to destroy everything is what you could say is the big picture. When the game is on the line, and In-ho is actually a real part of the team, he finds himself having a genuinely good time. That duality made it both challenging and fun to act.“
One particularly memorable moment was Lee Byung-hun slapping himself hard in frustration after failing at spinning a top, which left viewers stunned. He revealed “I slapped myself really hard. The director asked me to get it in one take if possible, and I think we did about three takes. Not because they were worried I’d hurt myself, but because they were concerned bruises might show, which makeup couldn’t cover” then laughed.
Lee Seo-hwan added, “The funny part is that Byung-hun was so good at spinning tops that we kept getting NGs. He could spin it blindfolded or even just throw it carelessly behind him, and it would still work perfectly.”
Lee Byung-hun shared his secret, “A few months before filming, the production team gave me the top to practice with. I spent time learning how to tie the string quickly and throw it successfully. That practice really paid off during the shoot.“
