Squid Game creator addresses T.O.P. drug scandal after Thanos backlash
NetflixSquid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has spoken out about T.O.P., the star who plays Thanos in Season 2, and how he expected viewers to be more “forgiving” of his past drug scandal.
Thanos is easily the most divisive character from Squid Game Season 2. He’s incredibly eccentric, hateable, and hilarious all at the same time, causing havoc across all of the challenges and speaking in random bursts of English.
However, while Netflix’s social media accounts have posted clips of the star, he hasn’t appeared on the streamer’s South Korea pages. It’s believed this is due to his past drug scandal (he was handed a 10-month jail sentence and a two-year suspension from his mandatory military service after he was found guilty of using marijuana).
Speaking to South Korean outlet Sports Chosun, Hwang acknowledged the “concerns and criticism” of T.O.P. in the country and defended the actor.
Squid Game creator says people should forgive T.O.P.
NetflixBefore casting T.O.P. as Thanos, Hwang “researched the history of celebrities returning after marijuana-related scandals… since the incident occurred about six to seven years ago, I thought enough time had passed for people to be more forgiving.”
“I was surprised by the intensity of the reaction, but I couldn’t simply reject him outright,” he explained (via CNA).
“I decided to move forward and let his performance speak for itself. Ultimately, whether he’s accepted will depend on how the public perceives his work and if they’re willing to forgive him. That decision lies with the audience.”
Hwang noted the criticism as soon as T.O.P.’s casting was announced. “We concluded early on that including him in promotional activities would be difficult… it’s not a case where we initially planned to highlight him and then removed him due to public opinion,” he said.
“From the start, the plan was limited. I thought it would be best to let the character and his performance be judged once the series is released.”
In another interview with People, Hwang said it must have taken T.O.P. “a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too, so I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.”
“Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively, and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character,” he added.
You can also check out our breakdown of the Season 2 ending, our ranking of the Squid Game challenges, and who we think will die in Season 3.