The director of "Squid Game" used to be in debt, living by his mother like a character in the movie

This blockbuster was inspired by the director's own life.

After only 1 week of release, "Squid game" created a global fever when reaching No. 1 in 90 countries, becoming the first Korean series to hold the No. 1 position on Netflix globally. Currently, after more than 4 weeks of release, the film still maintains its attraction and continues to lead Netflix globally. The movie is supported by Netflix with subtitles and dubbing in 30 languages, more than previous works of this platform such as "Money Heist", "Lupin",...

The fact that the film became a world phenomenon also made the name of director and screenwriter Hwang Dong Huyk rise like a kite. As the father of the series making money, few would expect that the director surnamed Hwang also had a difficult time due to debt default.

Recently in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang Dong Huyk had the opportunity to talk about a difficult time before he started working on the script for "Squid Game". In 2008, he went bankrupt because of a failed movie script. Due to risk and financial exhaustion to call for film investment, the male director was in a situation of "no money in his pocket", unemployed and even had to live off his mother's allowance for a long time.

Therefore, Hwang Dong Huyk spends a lot of his free time at coffee shops and frantically reads survival-themed comics like "Liar Game", "Kaiji", "Battle Royale"... And then in the Fortunately, thanks to the difficult circumstances, director Hwang Dong Huyk has found inspiration for a new script.

"During the time of debt, I read many stories about debtors who had to participate in life-and-death games to change their lives. It made me connect deeply with the personal situation at that time. I even thought that If a game like that existed, I'd be in it, making a ton of money to get out of this horrible situation.

And then I thought to myself, well, I'm the director, why not make a movie with a plot like that. So I decided to create my own Korean version of the survival game. That's how the Squid Game was conceived," Hwang Dong Huyk recounted.

Also in this interview, he revealed that he put a lot of details about his real life in the movie. In the two characters Gi Hun and Sang Woo, each has a bit of the personality and circumstances of the 50-year-old male director. Hwang Do Huyk confided, "Like me, Gi Hun used to be heavily in debt and lived off of his mother.

In the past, when I was in dire straits, I myself used to go to horse races and bet money to make money. But I don't steal money from my mother. The character Sang Woo is also a bit of me. I passed the prestigious Seoul University, is the pride of the whole neighborhood but also sometimes frustrated."

More specifically, the popular neighborhood scene was also copied by Hwang Do Huyk from the Ssangmun-dong area, where he was born and raised. The names of the characters Seong Gi-hun, Cho Sang-woo, and Il-nam are all names of the director's childhood friends. For Hwang Do Huyk, "Squid game" from the beginning was a turning point in his life, although it did not bring him immediate success, but more than 10 years later. The process of making this film is also extremely complicated.

While writing the script, the male director once had to sell his laptop because of lack of money. Finishing the first script in 2009, Hwang Do Huyk continued to struggle for many years to find investment sources for the film and was rejected by a series of studios to produce. It wasn't until 2019 that Netflix received the "Squid game" script and poured money into making the movie.

But from starting to write, the male director has the motivation to return to creativity and revive himself. During the period from 2009 to present, Hwang Dong Huyk has also released many memorable films such as "Silenced" (2011), "Miss Granny" (2013), "The Fortress" (2017).. .

Looking back at the success of the work, director Hwang Dong Huyk said that it was worth waiting for more than 10 years for the film to take shape. However, it is also a great pressure for himself when making the next film. The stressful creative process and the overwhelming shadow of part 1 made Hwang Dong Huyk once announced that he would not do part 2 "Squid game".

However, the male director seems to be considering returning as the audience's love for the film grows stronger. Hwang Do Huyk also thinks that mixed opinions are a good source of material to fill in the gaps of part 1 and create a more complete story in the next part.

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