'Squid Game' VIP Actor Confirms Huge Theory Over Show's Most Divisive Characters

It turns out Squid Game’s most confusing creative decision wasn’t a secret plot twist – it was a post-production choice. Actor Bryan Bucco, who played one of the English-speaking VIPs in Squid Game Season 3, has confirmed what fans have long suspected: The version of the show streaming on Netflix doesn’t even use his voice. But, why?

Responding to a viral TikTok calling out the infamous Squid Game VIP performances – which have been panned since Season 1 for feeling jarringly awkward next to the show’s brutal Korean-language drama – Bucco cleared the air. “Those are the English dubs,” he wrote. “I was the actual actor. What’s being played here isn’t my voice.”

Yes, you read that right. Even though the VIPs in Squid Game are supposed to be English-speaking Western elites, the version of the show most people are watching – Korean audio with English subtitles – features dubbed-over English replacements for actors who were already speaking English. And we use the word “replacements” because they sure as heck can’t act, even if Bucco didn’t want to actually say that.

“I don’t even want to s**t on my voice actor either. I think he did fine. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to say his lines either, haha.”

Why Do the ‘Squid Game’ VIPs Sound Weird?

According to Bucco, this kind of replacement isn’t as weird as it sounds. “The Korean version shouldn’t have English dubs,” he explained. “If there are some in the Korean version, it would have to be due to specific lines having to be re-recorded for clarity.” In other words, it might’ve been a technical or contractual thing – not a creative choice.

“I think whoever is contracted to do the dubbing does ALL of the dubbing,” he noted, suggesting that Netflix may have swapped the lines out for consistency. But even Bucco admits it’s… strange. Especially since some regional versions of the show do feature his original performance. “I’ve seen different clips floating around where some have my voice and others that are clearly not me,” he wrote. “Just… if it sounds dubbed, that’s because it probably is.” And it’s not just him. Bucco even found a TikTok showing two versions of the same scene featuring a different VIP character – one with the original actor’s voice, the other with a replacement dub. (Spoiler: The original sounds way more natural.)

For Bucco and his fellow newcomers in Season 3, the experience was just confusing. Their scenes were filmed in isolation – after the rest of production had wrapped. “There were no other major actors around except the Front Man,” he wrote.

“Every night we sat together reading through lines questioning how any of it should really be said. It was mostly just us sitting in a room reacting to something that wasn’t there.”

And after watching it all back? Even Bucco admits the VIPs didn’t land. “I agree. They didn’t further the story or compliment it well,” he told one commenter who called the characters “useless.” Despite the uneven reception to Squid Game Season 3 – and especially its recurring VIP issue – the series is still breaking viewership records for Netflix, even if the VIPs aren’t winning any hearts.

Squid Game Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix now.