Squid Game's Thanos actor breaks silence on the backlash to his casting

17 January 2025, 12:59

By Sam Prance

K-pop idol T.O.P., aka Choi Seung-hyun, was embroiled in a legal controversy before starring in Squid Game.

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T.O.P has opened up about starring as Thanos in Squid Game season 2 and the controversy surrounding his casting.

As soon as Squid Game season 2 came out, rapper Thanos became one of the show's most talked-about characters. At first players rally around the star, who lost all his money after investing in a failed cryptocurrency, but he quickly emerges as a villain who cares only about himself and his actions have huge consequences in the show's plot.

In the Netflix show, Thanos is played by former BigBang rapper T.O.P (Choi Seung-hyun). T.O.P's casting was a big controversy in South Korea based on T.O.P's past legal issues but Squid Game boss Hwang Dong-hyuk has since defended T.O.P in the press. Now, T.O.P has said that he almost turned down the role because of his scandal.

Read more: Squid Game season 3: Release date, cast, plot, spoilers and more

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In 2017, T.O.P was found guilty of using marijuana, which is illegal in South Korea. This led to a 10-month jail sentence and a two-year suspension from mandatory military service. In an apology, he said: "I have no excuses and deserve any kind of punishment. I feel very regretful and fearful for having left an irreparable scar in everyone’s hearts."

In the wake of Choi Seung-hyun's scandal, many of his fans turned on him and he was effectively blacklisted from the Korean entertainment industry at large. As a result, Squid Game has faced some criticism in South Korea for helping facilitate T.O.P's comeback. However, others have rallied behind T.O.P and his return to media.

Now, T.O.P has explained that he was "hesitant" to play Thanos because of Thanos' own history with drug use. In an interview with The Korea Times, T.O.P stated: "The offer to play Thanos was a daunting proposition. The character mirrored my past, reflecting aspects I'd rather keep hidden."

Reflecting on the controversy surrounding his casting, T.O.P added: "The fear of being pigeonholed into one role made me hesitate but destiny seemed to be pulling me in this direction."

T.O.P. appearing at Seoul Central District Court in 2017. Picture: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

T.O.P then praised Hwang Dong-hyuk for taking a chance on him: "For almost 10 years, I felt no one looked at me, but director Hwang Dong-hyuk reached out to me first. The trust (and) the belief he had in me gave me the courage to take this on. As an actor, it is my duty to repay the trust."

Defending casting T.O.P in an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Hwang Dong-hyuk said: "It took him a lot of guts to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person."

He continued: "I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role."