On the afternoon of December 26, part 2 of the hit series “Squid Game” was released on Netflix.
According to Newsen, the appearance of Big Bang member T.O.P (real name Choi Seung Hyun) in “Squid Game 2” was criticized right from the casting stage.
Director Hwang Dong Hyuk said, “Please judge after watching the film.” But after the film was released, there was still much controversy about this role.
Many viewers believe that T.O.P is portraying "himself" in the film, because this character has many similarities with the scandals that the male singer has been involved in.
T.O.P plays player number 230 Thanos, named after the famous Marvel comic villain who is also widely known worldwide through the “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame” series.
Thanos was once a famous rapper but is now out of luck. He also lost a large sum of money in a cryptocurrency scam involving another player, YouTuber Myung Gi (Im Si Wan). Thanos then became addicted to drugs.
While in the game, Thanos often acts out in a destructive manner, affecting other players. He flirts with female players, threatens male players, and causes some players to die.
T.O.P's character takes up a significant amount of time in "Squid Game 2". However, Korean media said that this character inevitably reminds viewers of T.O.P in real life.
T.O.P was a rapper in the popular 2nd generation K-pop boy band Big Bang, but left the group. In 2017, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison and 2 years of probation for smoking marijuana.
Director Hwang Dong Hyuk once said: “Choi Seung Hyun needed a lot of courage to play this role.” Perhaps because the role has too many points that can remind the audience of the controversies surrounding his career.
As soon as “Squid Game 2” was released, many Korean newspapers had negative reviews of T.O.P's acting.
Newsen commented that T.O.P's pronunciation is unclear, especially in rap lines.
Sports Kyunghyang newspaper said that T.O.P is the “only acting flaw” in “Squid Game 2”, with “embarrassingly clumsy acting skills”.
