Squid Game Season 3's Oscar-Winning Star Cameo Addressed By Creator, Gi-hun, & Front Man Stars

This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Squid Game season 3.Netflix’s Squid Game has come to an end, including a surprising cameo from an Oscar-winning star in the show’s final moments. After Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) faces the final round of the games, the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) goes to America and briefly witnesses a new Recruiter (Cate Blanchett) at work.

In Squid Game in Conversation, also now on Netflix, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, and series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk discuss Cate Blanchett’s cameo in Squid Game season 3. Even the show’s leading actors were unaware of Blanchett’s involvement while filming. Check out their full comments below:

Lee Jung-jae: That was a surprise. No one told me about it. At one point, someone I knew said, “I heard a famous Hollywood actor’s gonna be in the show.”And I told them, “Oh, I don’t know, I haven’t heard anything about that.” So I had my doubts. I didn’t know who would be making a cameo, and I never thought it’d be someone so famous.

Hwang Dong-hyuk: We actually kept it a strict secret amongst ourselves for a very long time.

Byung-hun: In the end, though, because of scheduling, Cate Blanchett, she’s one of my favorite actors, but I didn’t even get to say hello. She and I shot that final scene separately since it’s just the camera cutting back and forth between us. I couldn’t say hi because once we shot it, we had to go.

This was Blanchett’s first time playing ddakji, the game the recruiter typically uses to find potential players. Check out further comments:

Byung-hun: Oh yeah, so the day we filmed, I saw her practicing over and over while we were setting up. She was pretty far away though, so I couldn’t see her face clearly. She was practicing for a long time.

Hwang: We sent her the ddakji in advance. But she wasn’t able to try it out much before the shoot. She had to hit the other ddakji and flip it but she couldn’t get it. So I went over and gave her a quick lesson. Right there and then. The take we used, that was real. The tilt-up from the ddakji where we first show her face. That confidence you see, that’s all real because she’d finally managed to flip it over. And that’s the take we used.

In an interview with Netflix Tudum, Hwang also talked about what Blanchett brought to the show:

We thought having a woman as a recruiter would be more dramatic and intriguing. And as for why Cate Blanchett, she’s just the best, with unmatched charisma. Who doesn’t love her? So we were very happy to have her appear. We needed someone who could dominate the screen with just one or two words, which is exactly what she did. If Gong Yoo is the Korean Recruiter, I thought she would be the perfect fit as the American Recruiter, bringing a short but gripping and impactful ending to the story.

During the shoot, she reminded me of what true talent looks like. Even with just a few looks and lines, her performance was mesmerizing. She was amazing at playing ddakji. I believe she successfully flipped the ddakji with her first try, and we were able to get that one long take right away.

Of this final scene, Lee Byung-hun also said (via Tudum), that it is “truly an ending that fits the [show’s] name. Personally, I interpret it as, despite all of the noble efforts of so many people, the world still continues as it was before.“

Source: Netflix