'Squid Game' creator recalls losing 'eight or nine' teeth while filming original season

The creator of the hit Netflix series Squid Game revealed he lost "eight or nine" teeth while filming the first season due to stress.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, in an interview with BBC a month ahead of the second season's premiere, reacted to reports that he lost half a dozen teeth during production. He then corrected them and said it "was eight or nine."

When asked what made him change his mind about making another installment despite the stress, he simply answered, “Money.”

“Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly I didn’t make much," he shared. "So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too."

Moreover, the creator said he "didn't fully finish the story."

In October 2021, Hwang told The Guardian that he was paid upfront for Squid Game, but wasn't offered a “bonus” for the show’s success.

A spokesperson for Netflix told BBC that it offers “competitive” pay and guarantees creators “solid compensation, regardless of the success or failure of their shows.”

Squid Game follows the story of 456 individuals, who are buried in financial debt, playing a series of thrilling, deadly games. Only one winner would bring home the jackpot prize of 45.6 billion Korean won (P2 billion). It became Netflix's most-watched series and the most-watched show in 94 countries, getting over 142 million member households and 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks of release.

In Season 2, Seong Gi-hun or Player 456 (Lee Jung Hae) joins the deadly games again after winning the last season in a bid to save other players from harm. Original cast members joining Lee include Lee Byung Hun (The Frontman), Wi Ha-jun (police detective Hwang Jun-ho), and Gong Yoo (The Salesman). New players completing the cast are Korean actors Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Yang Dong-geun, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ae-sim, and Choi Seung-hyun or T.O.P. of the K-pop group BigBang.

Squid Game 2 will premiere on Dec. 26.