HoYeon Jung Stole the Show at the SAG Awards
If you didn't watch Squid Game last year, you must've been living under a rock, because more than 142 million households viewed the series in its first 28 days on Netflix.
With 1.65 billion hours viewed in less than a month, the show sparked plenty of viral TikTok trends, weird collaborations, skyrocketed its actors to worldwide fame, and created an instant demand for another season.
One of the show's breakout stars is 27-year-old HoYeon Jung, who made her acting debut playing Kang Sae-byeok aka. "Player 067." It is wild to imagine that she'd never acted prior to Squid Game, because not only did her performance leave us all in tears, but she also managed to snag a SAG Award for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series" during last night's ceremony.
"It's been so quick so I can't really digest this feeling and life and everything. It's just such an honor to be here and to be nominated with my Squid Game members," she said as she gave her speech on stage, with her fellow cast members cheering her on. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a group of actors being as supportive.
Lee Jung-jae also won "Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series" for his performance in Squid Game, highlighting that this victory is only the beginning for Korean media. The actor emphasized that there is plenty of other content available, and asked fans of Squid Game to continue exploring the options.
Both HoYeon Jung and Lee Jung-jae have already made it big in the fashion world, as well. Of course, prior to her acting career HoYeon worked as a model, but Squid Game has resulted in a Vogue cover, as well as a spot as a Louis Vuitton ambassador. Gucci snapped up Lee Jung-jae, who's already starred in a campaign, as well as sat front-row at the label's most recent show in Milan.
The SAG Awards were just the beginning, there's plenty more to come from the Squid Game cast.
Other winners of the night included Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Jason Sudekis, Kate Winslet, Michael Keaton, Ariana DeBose, and Troy Kotsur, as well as No Time To Die, Succession, Ted Lasso, and CODA.