All the Ways ‘Squid Game’ Is Making History This Awards Season - Netflix Tudum

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    ‘Squid Game’ Continues to Make History This Awards Season

    The South Korean series is earning countless nominations — and it’s about time.

    By Phillipe Thao
    Jan. 17, 2022

With no killer doll in sight, Squid Game is on a run toward the jackpot. Since its premiere in September, the South Korean blockbuster has become the most-streamed series on Netflix, pulling in 1.65 billion hours of viewing during its first four weeks. And just last week, HoYeon Jung, who portrays Kang Sae-byeok, became the first South Korean woman to grace a solo cover of American Vogue. Jung is currently the most followed South Korean actor on Instagram, going from 400,000 followers to 23.7 million since the show’s premiere. “My entire life changed in just one month,” Jung told Vogue. Now the dystopian drama is making history during awards season, too.

With four Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, Squid Game is the first non-English-language series and first Korean series to score a nod. In addition, O Yeong-su, who plays fan-favorite Oh Il-nam, became the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe. “Now it’s no longer ‘us within the world,’ but it’s ‘the world within us.’ While embracing the scent of our culture and while embracing the love for my family deep in my heart, I give thanks to everyone in the world,” Yeong-su said in a statement. He follows in the footsteps of Youn Yuh-jung, who became the first South Korean actor to win an Academy Award in 2021, for her best supporting role in Minari

“Since we released the show Squid Game, we have experienced many surprising events. But today’s nomination for four categories with the SAG has to be one of the most surprising, and one of the happiest moments we’ve experienced,” director Hwang Dong-hyuk told Variety. Regarding a second season, the director adds, “What I will say is that I am picturing what it would be like if there was to be one. But all of these nominations and recognitions at the awards, and hopefully what will continue onward, definitely encourage us and motivate me.”

As we await more awards ceremonies, here’s the full list of wins, nods and pending nominations the groundbreaking series has received this year:

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Feb. 27, 2022 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series  Nominations: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, Anupam Tripathi, Heo Sung-tae, O Yeong-su and Kim Joo-ryoung

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Nomination: Lee Jung-jae

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series  Nomination: HoYeon Jung

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series  Nomination

Golden Globe Awards

Jan. 9, 2022 Best Supporting Actor, Television  Winner: O Yeong-su

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama Nomination: Lee Jung-jae

Best Television Series, Drama Nomination

Critics’ Choice Television Awards

March 13, 2022 Best Actor in a Drama Series Nomination: Lee Jung-jae

Best Drama Series Nomination

Best Foreign Language Series Nomination

Peoples’ Choice Awards

Dec. 7, 2021 Bingeworthy Show of the Year  Winner

Gotham Awards

Nov. 29, 2021 Breakthrough Series, Long Form Winner: Kim Ji-yeon and Hwang Dong-hyuk

Outstanding Performance in a New Series Nomination: Lee Jung-jae

Film Independent Spirit Awards

March 6, 2022 Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series Nomination: Lee Jung-jae

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