Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk has praised former BIGBANG member T.O.P.'s performance in the hit show's second season, marking the K-pop star's return to Korean entertainment after a nine-year hiatus following a marijuana scandal.
T.O.P., whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, portrays Player 230, a character named Thanos - a former rapper struggling with drug use during the deadly competition. The role bears striking parallels to the actor's own past controversies.
"This is a comeback after quite a long hiatus," Hwang told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "It took him a lot of guts to portray a character that shares similarities that are quite negative to him as a person."
In 2017, T.O.P. received a 10-month suspended prison sentence and two-year military service suspension after being found guilty of marijuana use, which is illegal in South Korea. The incident led to his effective blacklisting from the Korean entertainment industry.
Following his indictment, T.O.P. issued multiple public apologies, expressing deep regret for disappointing his fans and causing disturbance. The scandal took a serious toll on the artist, leading to his hospitalization after an overdose on prescribed tranquilizers during his mandatory military service.
Despite the controversy surrounding T.O.P.'s casting, director Hwang expressed complete satisfaction with the performer's work. "Despite the long hiatus, as a director, he performed very impressively," Hwang noted.
The second season of Squid Game, Netflix's most-watched show ever, features T.O.P. among several new cast members joining returning stars Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun. The series continues to dominate Netflix's rankings, maintaining its position at No. 1 in the United States.