Lee Jung-jae is most persuasive when he lets the assurance of a leading man slip. In Squid Game, his vulnerability makes a desperate man's choices credible, though the writing sometimes explains what the performance has already made clear.
Fi1m perspective
In Squid Game (2021), Lee Jung-jae makes Seong Gi-hun's financial desperation so convincing that we understand his decision to enter the competition. We were frightened for him because Lee makes needing the money painful, rather than merely a reason for taking part. He gives us someone to care about before the games have done their work. He does not have to make every choice sensible to keep us concerned about its consequences.
This is a marked departure from the glamorous leading-man image of his earlier work. An Affair (1998) provided his breakthrough, and City of the Rising Sun (1999) began a long collaboration with Jung Woo-sung. New World (2013) belongs to the crime-thriller and ensemble work that has suited him. Casting him as a down-on-his-luck everyman asks him to give up some of that polish, and the loss suits him.
Hwang Dong-hyuk gets particularly good work from him when the pressure comes through the other players. Alongside Park Hae-soo as Cho Sang-woo and Hoyeon as Kang Sae-byeok, Lee helps make trust more than a calculation about surviving the next game. The alliances matter because these people have become worth our concern, not simply because the competition requires them. Lee leaves space for the others to matter, which is essential in a drama whose tensions depend on deciding whom to believe.
There is a limit to what that performance can repair. Squid Game sometimes gives its characters blunt speeches when their circumstances and behaviour have already made the point. The writing is strongest when it lets Gi-hun's need for money and his dealings with the others carry the scene, rather than asking dialogue to spell out the stakes.
With Hunt (2022), his directorial debut, Lee also took a leading role; The Acolyte (2024) brought an English-language part as Master Sol. These are different ways of testing what he can do beyond Gi-hun. We would like more roles that let him be as fallible as Gi-hun, too. Start with Squid Game, and allow for the speeches.
Biography
Lee Jung-jae is a South Korean actor. He began his career as a fashion model in 1993 before making his acting debut in the television drama Dinosaur Teacher that year. Early roles included the series Feelings (1994) and Sandglass (1995).
He achieved breakthrough success with leading roles in the films An Affair (1998) and City of the Rising Sun (1999), the latter earning him the Best Actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Subsequent notable performances include Il Mare (2000), The Housemaid (2010), The Thieves (2012), New World (2013), Assassination (2015), and the Along with the Gods films (2017–2018).
Lee gained international recognition for portraying Seong Gi-hun / Player 456 in the Netflix series Squid Game (2021–), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He has also appeared in The Acolyte (2024) as Master Sol.
