- Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the director of "Squid Game," said the Emmy-winning series caused a lot of stress.
- While Hwang initially swore against creating another season, he said he changed his mind because of money.
Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the director of "Squid Game," says he was so stressed while making the first season of the Emmy-winning show that he lost "eight or nine" teeth.
In an interview with BBC posted on Monday, Hwang reflected on his decision to make a second season. Initially, he wasn't interested due to the stress it caused. When asked what made him change his mind, Hwang replied: "Money."
"Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly, I didn't make much," he explained in Korean. "So I had to do series two to help compensate me for series one as well."
The South Korean thriller revolves around a death competition where players in financial difficulty play a series of games to attempt to win the prize money of $32.4M — at the cost of their lives. The first season ended with most of the cast killed off. Seong Gi-Hun, played by Lee Jung-Hae, emerged as the sole survivor with the prize money.
The second season of "Squid Game" will be released on December 26, and its third installment is set to be released next year, according to Netflix.
Hwang initially came up with the idea for "Squid Game" in 2008 but shelved it for a decade when people thought it was "too complex and not commercial," he told Netflix in 2021. At one point, he even had to halt writing and sell his laptop to earn some cash.
Upon its release in September 2021, "Squid Game" became a worldwide sensation. The first season generated almost $900m for Netflix despite costing $21m to make, Bloomberg reported. That year, "Squid Game" also earned a spot as the most-watched show, with 1.65 billion hours streamed in the first four weeks. In 2023, Netflix created a reality show based on the drama.
Despite the show's success, Hwang says he did not earn any additional income. In 2021, he told the Guardian that he was not "that rich."
"But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it's not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract," he said.
In response to a request for comment from Business Insider, a representative from Netflix said that their compensation for partners is at a "competitive level."
They added that they provide flexible compensation, including subsequent seasons and the creation of new shows with partners when their shows are successful.
In the same interview with BBC, Hwang said that the stress he felt creating the second season of "Squid Game" was "much greater" due to high audience expectations.
"I haven't seen my dentist yet, but I'll probably have to pull out a few more very soon," he said.
A representative for Hwang did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.