Article: [Exclusive] "How did T.O.P get on board?"... 'Squid Game 2' is Lee Jung-jae's game
Source: Dispatch
In 2014, Lee Jung-jae and Lim Se-ryeong's secret date was at T.O.P's house in Hannam-dong. The two had a couple meet at a luxurious villa.
Lee Jung-jae and TOP are infamous in the entertainment industry for being close hyungs. The two formed a friendship because of a common hobby. They went to the Hong Kong Art Fair together and drank wine at Lim Se-ryeong's restaurant.
Lee Jung-jae set out to save his hyung. He had sought to recruit TOP in the past but it ended in a misfire at the time. This time though, he onboarded him to a game where he was the leading man.
T.O.P is set to appear in Netflix's 'Squid Game 2'. It's said this is due to Lee Jung-jae's strong influence. Lee Jung-jae is the main character of 'Squid Game 2.' He's the key figure.
In fact, 'Squid Game 2' is a game that had to be played by Lee Jung-jae. He had already called Netflix for a guarantee of more than $1 million per episode.
Netflix had fun with 'Squid Game.' According to Netflix internal documents in October 2021, the drama earned over $900 million (1.24 trillion won). From Netflix's point of view, Lee Jung-jae's demands couldn't be ignored. Lee Jung-jae's share (appearance fee) alone would raise more than $13 million for a total close to 20 billion won.
It was a possible game for Lee Jung-jae so he sought to find the right actor with a guarantee. However, putting breath into casting is a different nature. Besides, the story would be totally different if it's TOP.
TOP quit smoking marijuana in 2016. He hinted several times he would retire from the entertainment industry. Last year, he concluded his contract with YG and in May, officially withdrew from Big Bang. It's been 7 years since he started acting again. He quit after 'Alumni' (2013), 'Tazza - God's Hand' (2014), and Chinese film 'Out of Control' (2016).
We asked if TOP "auditioned" for the role and all we got is, "That's something we can't speak on other than to answer with Netflix's official statement. There's no way to know what fierce competition he went through to win the role."
Netflix's double standards are also problematic. Strict standards are applied on other famous celebrities. Before they could even be judged in front of the law, they were judged after demands to "kick him out of 'Hell', "pull out Seungri", and "edit out 'Hun dog..."
But with 'Squid Game', they became stones. Despite his drug record, it was ok as long as Squid Game hit daebak. We asked several times why he was casted, but they avoided our calls.
Netflix earned 773.3 billion won in Korea last year. However, the corporate tax paid to Korea was only 3.3 billion won and were even suspected of tax avoidance. Their way of handling disadvantages is always through 'avoidance.'
