The actress has risen to stardom quicker than most
Netflix’s Korean original thriller Squid Game has taken the world by storm over the past week, leading many viewers to make their first foray into foreign TV. Now, one of the show’s breakout stars has found themselves with an astronomical amount of followers in an incredibly short space of time.
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HoYeon Jung began the show with around 400,000 followers but now has close to ten million since her appearance on the show, which debuted on September 17. At the time of writing, her follower count is huge 9.8 million.
Squid Game, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows the lives of a group of financially collapsed individuals as they are thrust into a disturbing game where the odds are very much life or death.
Jung was central for most of the series alongside other actors like Park Hae-Soo, Wi Ha‑Joon and Lee Jung‑Jae who plays the show’s primary protagonist, Seung Gi‑Hun.
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Jung plays Sae‑Byeok, a defector from North Korea who is battling to bring her mother across the border to join herself and her younger brother. A huge part of her plan is to get enough money to pay for the crossing, hence why she chooses to join the game.
The 27-year-old actor initially began modelling at 16 but then went on to become the runner up on the fourth season of Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013. Later, she posed for huge fashion houses like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Jeremy Scott, Burberry and Jason Wu – to name but a few.
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Squid Game is Jung’s first acting gig and she has already been praised for the depth of her character and her seamless portrayal of someone on the edge of collapse.
“Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure,” and has “a very good chance it’s going to be our biggest show ever,” Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos told audiences at the 2021 Code conference last week.
Related links:
- If you like Squid Game here’s 6 shows you’ll want to watch next
- Squid Game is on track to become Netflix’s most popular show ever
- Brutal new Netflix series Squid Game gets 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
