Why Anupam Tripathi Read The “Squid Game” Script In One Sitting

If you watched Squid Game, you know how hard it was to watch just one episode at a time! According to Anupam Tripathi, the K-Drama’s script was just as hard to put down as the K-Drama was to turn off.

Anupam Tripathi recently did an interview with VICE, and he revealed how he prepared to play Ali, what it was like on set, and more.

In Squid Game, Ali Abdul is a migrant worker from Pakistan. Although he’s played “mostly migrant worker roles in movies and dramas,” Anupam Tripathi felt that Ali was different because he was a more developed and fleshed-out character than his previous roles. He said, “It was my first full-fledged character… The way he looked, the way he behaved, his background—so many questions were in my mind on how I was going to portray him.”

As preparation for his role as Ali, Anupam met with migrant workers, watched documentaries, and read articles about migrant workers in order to fully understand his character. “It’s all about portraying Ali to the best of my ability,” he said.

Although he “started dancing with joy” and immediately shared the good news with his friends and family once he found out he was cast as Ali, Anupam felt immense pressure to bring Ali to life realistically after learning that the K-Drama would be aired in 190 countries.

Even though he was intimidated by the idea of acting in a K-Drama with such a global scale, Anupam couldn’t resist devouring the script all at once. During his VICE interview, he revealed he’d read the script in one sitting!

“I was like, ‘What is this? It’s crazily amazing.’ The biggest hook for me was how characters would live or die through a series of childhood games, and as you go deeper into the script, you’ll notice that each character has their own personal conflict.

—Anupam Tripathi

The same things that hooked Anupam on the Squid Game script have hooked millions on the completed K-Drama, so we totally agree with him!