Lee Jung Jae has officially said farewell to Squid Game—and he was just as surprised by the ending as fans were. In the third and final season of the global sensation, Lee’s character, Gi Hun, makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Jun Hee’s (Jo Yu Ri) child, closing out the series with an emotional and unexpected twist.
The South Korean actor revealed his surprise at director Hwang Dong Hyuk’s bold decision to end the series definitively. “I was amazed by the writer-director’s courage,” Lee Jung Jae said.
“After such massive success, many shows just keep going with endless seasons for years, turning into franchise projects. But he chose artistic integrity over prolonged success. He cares more about the work itself than material gains.”
According to Lee, Squid Game was originally meant to be a one-season limited series, and even though he hoped for a second season after Gi Hun’s dramatic turn at the end of Season 1, he respected the creative direction.
“When we did start Season 2, I felt my role was to help the writer realize his vision—even if I had my own ideas, I tried to align with his direction as much as possible.” Lee was once again stunned by Hwang’s firm decision to end things with Season 3. “The director was firm – no Season 4,” he said.
“I do dramas and films, but (Hwang) comes from a film background. In movies, the ending is everything. It’s where the emotions really hit, where everything has to connect, and where the story’s message and entertainment value need to land perfectly.
That’s why for filmmakers, the final act—the payoff after building up the whole narrative—is incredibly important.” Still, he showed his surprise, commenting, “I didn’t know it’d end like that—I’m quite shocked myself.” Behind Gi Hun’s final moments was intense dedication.
Hwang revealed that Lee spent nearly a year eating only vegetables, losing 10kg for the role. Lee explained, “I wanted to show maximum effort for fans who gave us such incredible support,” he explained.
“I asked the catering staff to just steam vegetables for me. They’d pack three meals in to-go boxes—one for lunch, one for dinner, and one for breakfast the next day. By the middle of filming, I cut it to two meals, then one.
In the final two months shooting the finale, I split that one meal into three portions.” The hard work paid off. Lee Jung Jae proudly gave his character Gi Hun “the world’s most famous Korean.” He said with a smile, “People recognize me everywhere now,” he laughed.
“I used to think Westerners couldn’t easily distinguish between Asian faces, but they spot me instantly walking down the street. It really shows how big ‘Squid Game’ became.” Even overseas TV appearances have become surreal experiences, with American crews learning Korean songs to welcome him.
“Recently, over 20 crew members on a U.S. show welcomed me by singing in Korean. They’d practiced just for me—I was floored.,” he laughed. While Gi Hun’s story has come to a close, Lee’s global fame is still very much on the rise.
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