Jo Yu-ri Could ‘Not Stop Crying’ Over Jun-Hee, Baby

[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the Squid Game season three finale, “Humans are …”]

Squid Game is a story about sacrifice in order to achieve a better future. In the end, the third and final season of Netflix‘s global mega-hit killed its protagonist so creator Hwang Dong-hyuk could deliver that message.

The finale, titled “Humans are…”, saw reluctant hero Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) sacrificing himself so that the baby of two deceased players in the deadly South Korean Games could survive. The baby’s mother, Kim Jun-hee, aka Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri), made the first ultimate sacrifice when, with a broken foot and unable to compete, she threw herself off a sky-high ledge and charged the then-alive Gi-hun to take care of her newborn baby, who was birthed during the prior game, in order to give her child the best shot at survival.

The irony is that the final game came down to Gi-hun and the baby’s father, Lee Myung-gi, aka Player 333 (Yim Swian), as they battled each other on another sky-high ledge. Gi-hun ended up victorious, but because of the final game’s twisted rules and the baby now counting as a player, only Gi-hun or the baby could be left alive. When Gi-hun jumps to his death, the baby is then crowned the champion.

The ultimate ending (complete with an A-list cameo from Cate Blanchett) is a bleak one, but there is hope for Jun-hee’s legacy. In one of the show’s final scenes, antagonist The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) leaves the newborn — along with the 45.6 billion won cash prize, about $31.5 million — with his good guy police detective brother, Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon).

Before the third and final season of Squid Game released to a new viewership record for Netflix, Jo Yu-ri was most likely recognized for her K-pop origins, first as a member of group Iz*One and then as a solo artist. Below, she spoke with The Hollywood Reporter via a translator about landing the standout role, her emotional reaction when learning about Jun-hee’s fate and her hopes for the ending, before she had seen the final episode.

***

Coming from the K-pop world and with your musical background, how did this Squid Game role come to you?

I received an audition request. The audition process was pretty lengthy, so it was three, four months of preparing for Jun-hee and then I got the role.

I read that your audition was a process. What attracted you to Jun-hee and what made you want to fight for this role?

I actually did not know what kind of role it would be, specifically. I really had no prior information on the character. What I was able to glean from the audition process was really only what director [Hwang] told me — her name and that she was pregnant. That was pretty much all I had during the process. But after I got the role, he gave me the script and that was when I was able to fill in the blanks.

For her to enter the Games so far into her pregnancy, we assume she was at a point of desperation. But as we get to know her — and then see her ultimate sacrifice — we learn she is incredibly strong-willed. What backstory did you create to help you understand her better?

As we know from watching the show, there’s not a lot revealed about Jun-hee’s backstory. I did have to work a little bit on my own to fill in those blanks. The director [Hwang] once mentioned to me that she could have tried to follow in Myungi’s footsteps and tried to be a YouTuber, but I felt her personality wasn’t quite right to be a successful YouTuber. In my mind, I think she made a few attempts but failed, then found out she was pregnant and was working odd jobs. That then led her to meet the man who recruits her.

I understand that you wore a prosthetic belly and learned how to walk and act pregnant while you were filming. The labor scene was very intense to watch. Was the baby entirely CGI and what was it like to film that scene, along with your two co-stars Kang Ae-sim (Player 149) and Park Sung-hoon (Player 120), who also ultimately don’t make it out of the Games alive?

For the birth scene, I was really helped by my co-star Ae-sim. I took her advice a lot, and she really helped out. So filming that scene was difficult, but I definitely managed. With the baby, we actually had a silicone dummy doll version of a baby. We had two versions: one that was moving and one that was a robotic baby, and I remember alternating between those dolls to film that scene. But even if it was a doll, it just felt so real to me. I remember tearing up, just holding that baby in my arms.

Jun-hee’s death is so heartbreaking. The odds were against her, but as a viewer, we don’t want to accept that she won’t make it out. How did you react when you read her fate, and that she sacrifices herself and hands her child over to Gi-hun to give her child the best shot of survival? Was that why you had teased this season as being “brutal and cruel”?

Just the concept of having a pregnant woman in the Games made me think, “How much more cruel is this [seasons two and three] going to be?” The scene where she decides to give Gi-hun the baby was definitely a super emotionally intense scene. I really tried my best to portray that sense of emotion and how torn she was. I was also very curious to see how the baby would factor into the Games, because at the time, I could not read the scripts that followed Jun-hee’s death. So I was very curious.

What was it like filming her final scene, in particular her final conversations with both Gi-hun and Myungi? Also, how immersive was that Jump Rope game set as you were filming her goodbye and going through the process of her making the decision to sacrifice herself?

It was really emotionally difficult, especially my last conversation with Gi-hun. I really felt my emotions just spilling over and exploding. But the director [Hwang] asked me to pull it back a little bit, actually, and to keep it a bit more restrained. I remember that was even harder to do. My scene with Myungi is one I absolutely love because it was my audition scene. Jun-hee’s words, especially in that scene, are so heartbreaking, and I found myself relating to when she is asking Myungi, “With my foot like this, are you going to, what, carry me across?” Even after the cameras stopped rolling, I just could not stop crying.

The finale boiled down to the father of the baby (Player 333), Gi-hun (Player 456) and Jun-hee’s baby as the remaining players in the Sky Squid Game. Were you surprised when you found out the evil twist that the baby would actually become a player in the game, and take on Jun-hee’s Player 222 number? What were your hopes going into the finale?

I remember when I found out the baby was going to be a participant. I remember feeling despair and not even wanting that to happen. I remember almost tearing up. I have only seen up to episode five [the penultimate episode] of season three. The most positive outcome that I was trying to think of is that Detective Jun-ho finally figures out where the island is, and the Games stop. And then there are three winners left. That was what I was hoping for. [Writer’s note: Though there were not three winners in the end, Jun-hee’s baby was the ultimate winner and survived the Games and the series, giving the baby the best possible outcome.]

***

The final season of Squid Game is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR’s take on the finale cameo and how it could set up a spinoff, and our two-part interview with creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on making the final season and why he ended the series how he did.