Squid Game's Jung Ho-yeon Made Her Acting Debut in the Series & She Was Shocked She Landed the Role

Jung Ho-yeon is one of the breakout stars of the new Netflix series Squid Game and the popular new show marks her acting debut!

The 27-year-old South Korean star got her start as a fashion model and she was even named “Korea’s next top model” by Vogue. She has since walked runways for such top fashion brands as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, and Marc Jacobs.

On the new series, Jung plays the role of North Korean defector Sae-byeok, who is hoping to make a better life for herself and her younger brother.

Click inside to read what she said in a recent interview…

While speaking with W Korea, Jung said, “When my CEO told me I’d been cast, the first thing I said was, ‘Why?’ I was so happy when I heard the news, but it was like a greater fear had taken over me. [I was like] ‘Thank you very much, but I can do this?’”

Jung did a lot of preparation to play Sae-byeok.

“I watched a lot of documentaries about North Korean defectors. I also practiced speaking in a North Korean accent with a teacher, and studied a lot,” she said. “More than anything, I think I was able to accept [the character] Sae-byeok without any big difficulties because I am similar to her. In 2016, I left Korea to further my modelling career overseas, and I spent a lot of time alone. At the time, the emotion that I felt the most was ‘loneliness’… That feeling of loneliness while trying to persevere and live isn’t all that different.”

Squid Game follows 456 desperate contestants who compete with each other in a mysterious and deadly survival game involving multiple rounds of childhood games to win 45.6 billion won (about $38.6 million) prize money that can pull them out of their misery.

The new series is on track to make history on Netflix.