Warning: Spoilers for Squid Game season 2 (‘오징어 게임 2’) ahead.
From the moment former IZ*ONE member Jo Yuri appears on screen during Squid Game season 2, you immediately know her character, Kim Junhee, is going through a lot. While her boyfriend Myunggi, portrayed by Run On's Im Siwan, is getting slapped by the mysterious salesman brought to life by Gong Yoo at Seoul's Jonggak Station, Junhee is all alone in the waiting room of her OB-GYN. She calls Myunggi to no avail and her gaze says it all: she will do anything and everything in her hands to get out of this situation — and, serendipitously, what's literally in her hands is an invite to the brutal survival games that took over pop culture in 2021.
After spending years in the spotlight as a K-pop idol — appearing on a variety of talent shows, racking up awards with IZ*ONE, and even launching a successful career as a soloist — Jo Yuri first ventured into acting in 2022 with the teen drama Mimicus. In it, she portrayed Oh Roshi, the youngest member of an idol group who returns to school to find herself and what she really wants in life. The perfect example of art imitating life, the glaring parallels between Oh Roshi and Jo Yuri are impossible to ignore. Squid Game 2, however, shows us Jo Yuri like we've never seen her before, with irreverence and disdain as Junhee's native languages. Long gone are the pastel pink aesthetics, and, in their place, it's blood, sweat, and tears with new faces, new games, and new challenges.
A couple of weeks before the long-anticipated premiere of Squid Game season 2, Teen Vogue sat down with Jo Yuri to chat about Junhee's idiosyncrasies, dealing with a toxic ex, the scariest characters of the season, and her hopes for Squid Game season 3. Keep reading for it all.
Jo Yuri: I was very interested in acting ever since I was young. In high school, I joined the drama club and that's where I started learning to act. Then when I was in IZ*ONE, I wanted to keep acting so I kept preparing to become an actress. So, I'd say it was a really natural transition and choice for me.
JY: So, it was actually a very long audition process. I had to talk a lot with the director [Hwang Donghyuk] before I was officially cast. When I first heard that I was actually part of the team, I was thrilled. It was such a big honor, and I couldn't actually believe it at first.
JY: I think the whole audition process took about four or three months as a whole. Honestly, the most memorable moment was probably my third audition. That's when they actually showed the script for season two for the very first time and it was, like, 30 minutes before I had to meet the director, so I had to skim it very quickly and do the acting right away. I was so desperate to get the role at that moment, so I can't help but keep thinking of that moment.
JY: It was. [Smiles.]
JY: Of course, I was nervous and a little worried at first because it's such a major show, but as soon as I got the script and read it, I immediately fell in love. It was so fun. So, instead of being scared or worrying, I tried to focus on just doing my best on set. I thought that was the only way to go into filming. Just give it your all.
JY: I didn't know anyone in the cast before.
JY: I guess it may have helped a little if there were someone who I was already familiar with. But getting into the shoot, all the experienced actors and actresses and the seniors, they were very kind to me, so we ended up getting along very quickly.
JY: I first heard about this nomination when we were doing the media event back in South Korea, and it was actually surreal. I couldn't really believe that we were nominated even before the show was released. It was such a big honor and I think more people will love the show even more, and more good news will come in, once the show is released to the public.
JY: So, it is not something that I do in real life. [Laughs.] I had a lot of conversations with the director about how Junhee would be shown on the show. We discussed a lot of style features. It was actually director [Hwang] who suggested the piercing on the eyebrow first because he wanted to show a little bit of the wild side of Junhee. We tried it and it looked quite good on me, so we decided to lock it in and go into filming with it.
JY: So with the piercing, we actually discussed a lot of different placements on the face. We went for the eyebrow piercing, but we also tried the nose. We had conversations to try and decipher which facial piercing would work best for her and be the most impactful. We decided on the eyebrow in the end because we didn't want the piercing to get in the way of acting.
JY: Honestly, the biggest part of character development for Junhee was talking with the director. So whenever I had questions about the character, I'd share them with the director. And whenever I had ideas about the character, I'd also share them with the director, and he was very receptive. He was the only person who I could actually discuss everything about Junhee with.
JY: I definitely had some questions about the choices that Junhee makes. I was really curious to know why she made those [questionable] choices. Like, her relationship with Myunggi, her ex-boyfriend. She seems to have a mixed feeling towards him because, on the one hand, she hates him, but, on the other hand, she feels inevitably drawn to him… again and again. So, since I love and care for Junhee a lot, I couldn't help but worry. I didn't want her to fall for Myunggi again. I was like, “Junhee. No. Don't do this. Don't care about Myunggi, please.” That was the part about Junhee that made me most curious.
JY: [Smiles.]
JY: [Laughs.] I actually found a lot more similarities than differences. First of all, we are at a similar age, so I could relate to Junhee a lot better. And the thing I said earlier, Junhee may not make the smartest choices, but I feel like I would have done the same. I could understand why she was making such choices to an extent. The only difference that I can think of right now is that I've obviously never experienced pregnancy.
JY: Yes, I was wearing a fake belly, but since the tracksuit, the uniform we wear in the games, was actually very loose, it didn't really show on screen when I was wearing the small ones. So we had to try a bigger one, a medium-sized belly so that it would actually show a little under the clothes.
JY: I asked the people around me who experienced pregnancy, of course, and I also happened to know one obstetrician, so I asked them a lot of questions. And then I also talked with my mother a lot too, and she showed me the baby journal she had written when I was a baby. I was actually very emotional reading it, I could really feel her love, so I learned a lot from that too.
JY: To me, the source of energy that Junhee has is the baby she's carrying. Because of the baby, she wants to leave the game alive. And then, the baby is actually the very reason why she even joined the game in the first place. She wants to lead a life with the baby. At the obstetrician's clinic, at the beginning of the show, she tries to reach her boyfriend, but he doesn't pick up. Still, she wants to go on with having this baby and she wants to raise the baby on her own. I think that's how determined and strong-willed she is about the baby.
JY: Kang Aeshim actually shared a lot of details about how a pregnant woman would behave with me. I learned a lot from her. She was so kind. We ate together all throughout filming. And when we didn't have any shoot, we would still spend time together on the set. We sometimes brought these props, the gonggi, the small pebbles we use for the game, and played with them when we were on a break.
JY: So, for me, a perfect ending for Junhee would be to get more Xs on the boat so all of us will leave the game alive and go home safely. [Smiles.] That would be the happy ending for my character.
JY: [Laughs.] So that is actually a very tricky question because… I've just never thought of that. Mmm… I wouldn't wish death on anyone or any character, but to me, the scariest character was Namgyu, played by No Jaewon. It's not like I wish he were dead, but I was like, “I kind of want to stop seeing you.” That type of feeling. He was the scariest one to watch.
JY: Yep.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Jo Yuri spoke in Korean via an interpreter. The writer has provided additional translation and adaptation.
