‘Squid Game’ Makes SAG Awards History as First Non-English-Language TV Series to Win Acting Prizes

BY: Denver Sean

Published 3 years ago

‘Squid Game’ made history at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

via People:

Netflix’s survival thriller earned four nominations, including outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series; outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama television series; outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series for star Lee Jung-jae, and outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series for star Jung Ho-yeon.

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Lee, 49, and Jung, 27, won in their respective categories. The awards marked Lee and Jung’s first-ever SAG Award nominations and wins.

Lee beat out Brian Cox (Succession), Billy Crudup (The Morning Show), Kieran Culkin (Succession), and Jeremy Strong (Succession) for the award.

Meanwhile, Jung beat out fellow nominees Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon from The Morning Show, Elisabeth Moss from The Handmaid’s Tale and Sarah Snook from Succession.

The show also took home the trophy for outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a television series, which was handed out by actors Alexandra Daddario and Ross Butler in the PEOPLE & Entertainment Weekly Red Carpet.

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On Sunday, the show became the first non-English-language series and the first Korean series to win SAG Awards. In all, the show took home three of the four statuettes for which it was nominated.

Even before Sunday’s ceremony, Squid Game had already made history as the first non-English series to earn a best ensemble nomination. 

Squid Game, created by director Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee) and a group of 456 debt-laden individuals competing in a series of children’s games to win a $40 million cash prize. But losing the games has deadly consequences for the contestants.

Recently, O Yeong-su, who plays the elderly Player 001 Oh Il-nam, became the first South Korean actor to win best supporting actor in a series, miniseries, or television film at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

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The Korean drama quickly became Netflix’s biggest series debut, surpassing Bridgerton’s previous viewership record on the streaming platform.

In January, the streaming giant confirmed that there will be a second season of Squid Game.

“If there were to be a season 2, in the first season that we saw Gi-hun is a character whose humanity is shown through or exposed in certain situations,” creator Dong-hyuk previously shared with Entertainment Weekly. “In other words, his humanity is shown through a very passive manner. But I would think that in the second season, what he has learned from the games and his experience in the first season, they will all be put to use in a more active manner.” 

The 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards aired live on TBS and TNT.

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We’ll consider this a win for diversity in Hollywood. Let’s see it continue!

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