Oh Young-soo didn’t understand the hype around his Golden Globe win. In January, the Squid Game fan favorite made history by becoming the first South Korean actor to do so, snagging the award for best supporting actor for television. “Maybe it’s because I’m so old that I wasn’t too excited when I first received the news,” he tells Tudum, chuckling to himself. “I was just really grateful to be receiving this prestigious global award that I’ve only heard of.” In fact, on the night of his victory, Oh turned down all the interviewers who had lined up to speak to him for one simple reason: “I can’t because I have a play tomorrow.”
Now he’s entering a new arena: Emmy Awards season. Nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series, alongside his co-stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Jung Ho-yeon and Lee Yoo-mi, the Squid Game ensemble are all the first native Korean speakers to be nominated in their respective categories. Their show is also the first non-English-language drama to receive a series nod by the Television Academy.
Even with all the accolades of the past year, there’s still a sense of comfort being around the veteran actor, whose career spans nearly six decades with more than 200 stage productions on his resume. Much like his character Oh Il-Nam, Oh speaks with the same ease and softness, tying together his words with an unwavering smile and wonder in his eyes. Il-Nam became Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae)’s gganbu in the show, the Korean slang word describing best friends who share everything. For the 77-year-old actor, living by that principle is part of his storytelling practice. “What I thought is that the receiving of this award is not only about myself as the actor, but it’s also about the awareness of Korean culture growing as a whole,” he adds. “I’m just really happy that people around the globe are sharing and watching Korean content.”
There’s no such thing as survival of the fittest in Squid Game. The strongest are often the ones who are killed by their own arrogance. When the players first realize that the price of playing the game is a fatal one, many start panicking and trying to escape during Red Light, Green Light. Il-Nam, however, remains unbothered as he gleefully inches toward the finish line. Despite being the oldest player and suffering from dementia, the deadly games bring out his inner child (as viewers will come to learn why in the finale). “I always think that Oh Il-nam is someone that everyone can find inside of them,” he says. It’s true, we’re all still a kid at heart — even those who might turn out to be murderous masterminds.
In the series’ sixth episode, fittingly titled “Gganbu,” Il-Nam and Gi-hun are paired together in a game of marbles. It’s a heartbreaking twist when the players learn that instead of being partners, they’ll be going against each other. As Il-Nam’s dementia advances, Gi-hun takes advantage of his friend in order to collect all of the marbles. His plan backfires when he realizes that one marble is missing — Il-Nam’s had it all along. “Does tricking your friend like that make sense to you?” Il-Nam asks. Still, he’s not upset that he’s been betrayed. He hands the last marble over to Gi-hun with a smile and says, “Gganbu always share everything with each other no matter what.”
Whether he’s on stage, in front of the camera or speaking in an interview, Oh connects with his audience through his eyes. It’s almost like he’s inviting them into the world he’s created; a gganbu wanting them to experience what he’s experiencing. “When I first was on stage, there was very little audience and my mom came to see me. She was in the front seat, but because the lights went out, I couldn’t locate her. I couldn’t find her because I was too busy acting,” he shares. “But now, even when it’s dark, I can see everyone’s face — even the ones at the very back.”
