Lee Byung-hun has known for years that Squid Game is a huge, worldwide phenomenon. However, he only truly felt that achievement in the immediate run-up to Season 2’s December 2024 debut. As Lee points out, his character, the enigmatic Front Man, was more of a “cameo appearance” than anything else in Squid Game’s inaugural run, which premiered in 2021. 

“So at the time, I wasn’t part of any of the promotional efforts,” Lee tells Tudum, sitting alongside Squid Game’s creator and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk. That changed at the bustling Seoul premiere event celebrating Season 2. In his second outing in the series, Lee not only portrays Front Man, but goes back to the competition as the new Player 001 under the name Young-il.  

“The most important thing in bringing this character to life in Season 2 was incessantly discussing [the portrayal] with the director,” the actor — who has led beloved Korean series like Mr. Sunshine, as well as Hollywood films, including 2016’s The Magnificent Seven — says. “Having to give different nuances to each of these three aspects [of Front Man] was the most challenging (as well as the most fun) for me as an actor.” 

Now, Front Man will show even more depth in Squid Game’s third and final season, which picks up immediately after Gi-hun’s failed rebellion and the murder of Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan). Gi-hun, aka Player 456, finds himself back in the game, and still under the thumb of his masked nemesis. However, the competition’s mysterious puppet master is done hiding in plain sight. He lets go of his Player 001 persona and returns to his rightful place in the arena’s control room as Front Man.

“For the Front Man, he’s not really interested in whether or not Gi-hun dies or lives,” Lee says. “Front Man wants to dismantle the noble belief that Gi-hun holds on to. Front Man believes that Gi-hun will inevitably change to think just like him. That’s why it's important to him that Gi-hun is put back into the games again.” 

Hwang is in agreement, saying Front Man sees Gi-hun’s beliefs as “foolish, ridiculous, and naive.” “To him, the history of mankind has always been a cycle of those who rule and those who obey — a pattern that has endured for tens of thousands of years,” the Squid Game creator continues. “Throughout Squid Game, his goal is to prove this to Gi-hun and make him give in.”  

Yet, Front Man didn’t always feel this way. This final chapter in Front Man and Gi-hun’s moral showdown is built atop their complicated relationship in Season 2. Those episodes feature the slow, tragic reveal of Front Man’s backstory, as he plays alongside Gi-hun under a false identity. Their conversations explain how a man who was once an optimistic police officer became someone who “believes that there is absolutely no hope for the world or humanity,” Lee says. 

PHOTO BY NO JU-HAN

Through his Young-il alter ego, Front Man tells Gi-hun that he was once married and loved his wife very much. But, she was diagnosed with acute cirrhosis and needed a liver transplant. Then the couple also found out she was pregnant. Still, Front Man and his wife were determined to welcome their baby, despite medical recommendations to terminate the pregnancy. Complications arose as her condition deteriorated and money became tight. Eventually, Front Man borrowed money from the wrong person, and his law enforcement superiors categorized the funds as a bribe. He lost his job and was forced to enter Squid Game. During the competition, he won the grand prize, but lost his soul in the process. Front Man subsequently tries to manipulate Gi-hun into understanding that any success in the game is covered in blood.

“Going through everything as a player, he was left torn and traumatized,” Lee says, “which turned him into an emotionless man deprived of any hope towards humanity — and so he became Front Man.” 

PHOTO BY NO JU-HAN

Somewhere between Young-il, In-ho, and the Front Man, you’ll find the truth of one grieving man’s devastated psyche. According to Lee, in Season 2, Episode 6, you can see the clearest depictions of all three of his personas in one scene. During that installment, the Squid Game contestants play Mingle, in which they are tasked with grouping themselves into a specific number and entering a locked room together. During a round in which the group number must consist of exactly two people, Front Man (or Player 001, to everyone around him) and trusting player Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) enter a room with another person already in it. To get their group number down to precisely two, Front Man quickly and easily kills the stranger, choking him and then breaking his neck. Front Man doesn’t even blink during this act. Jung-bae, meanwhile, can only stare at the gruesome tableau in horror.

“You get In-ho, Yong-il, and the Front Man in that single scene,” Lee says. “There was such a rush of mixed emotions that I felt there, something very unique and strange. I hope that’s something that can be felt by the audience too, when they watch that scene.” 

Lee Byung-hun greets fans during Netflix's Squid Game Season 3 Fan Event at Domino Park on June 20, 2025 in Brooklyn, New York.

PHOTO BY JASON MENDEZ/GETTY IMAGES FOR NETFLIX

However, in Season 3, Front Man is no longer looking back on who he was. He returns to his perch atop the game and is exclusively focused on what comes next. One of his first orders of business? Fully embracing his role as Squid Game host and welcoming the VIPs back to the island. Lee knows Front Man may “come off more ruthless and merciless” when the billionaires reenter his purview, but he believes there’s more at play than anyone may realize.  

“Some of those exchanges highlight the fact that Front Man has that last remaining piece of humanity deep down somewhere,” the actor says. “That’s the agreement that director Hwang and I came to, and that’s how I played my character.” 

While Front Man was spending all of that time trying to change Gi-hun’s mind, it’s possible Player 456’s hopefulness rubbed off on him instead. “As he goes through his duel with Gi-hun on their opposing beliefs — being with him for a week — I hope that there is some kind of change sprouting inside of him,” Lee says. “I hope the viewers also see this seed of hope.” 

Take a look for yourself now that Squid Game Season 3 is streaming on Netflix. And keep coming back to Tudum for even more inside scoop from the arena.  

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