“Squid Game” Actor Finally Reveals Secret He Kept For A Year After Filming
Spoiler Alert
Two nights before he was set to get married, marketing firm team leader Park Jong Nam received a phone call asking if he could be part of a shoot. Unsure but intrigued, Park agreed and decided to make the trip to Daejeon just one day before his wedding. Only after Park showed up at the set did he realize…
…he was about to make his debut with none other than the Netflix blockbuster K-Drama, Squid Game Season 2.
On December 26, 2024, after the second season premiered, Park took to Instagram and finally revealed (after having kept it a secret for a whole year) that he was the hand double for actor Kang Ha Neul‘s “gong-gi” scene, showing Player 388 Kang Dae Ho smooth-sailing through all five levels of the Korean children’s game.
According to Park, the Squid Game production team reached out to him, claiming to have gotten his contact information from SBS‘s A Master of Living production team.
In 2021, Park was featured on the SBS show as a “gong-gi master.” At the time, Park demonstrated some extraordinary gong-gi skills—including successfully completing a 10 gong-gi flip and playing with both hands on a rotating platform.
Park shared that, after signing multiple non-disclosure agreements, he came face to face with the entire Squid Game cast. Thanks to the actors being so welcoming and kind to him, Park felt right at home to complete the shoot without fumbling!
I went to Daejeon and signed numerous NDAs. They suggested having lunch first, so I followed them to a restaurant where I ended up eating with Lee Byung Hun, Lee Jung Jae, Kang Ha Neul, the director, and the assistant director who had contacted me. I couldn’t believe I was sharing a table with such famous actors in my lifetime…
…It’s a shame I couldn’t take even one photo or get an autograph due to confidentiality rules. The shoot itself wasn’t difficult since I just had to do a one-take from Level 1 to the flips, but I was so nervous since I had to participate in the six-legged race with the actors. We finished in about two takes, much faster than I expected.
— Park Jong Nam
In his Instagram post, Park also included a short story about how sweet and kind actor Kang Ha Neul was. Read the full post here:
View this post on Instagram
Netflix Debut! Not as a squid, but as a hand double!
In October 2023, I got a call two days before my wedding. They said they got my contact info from the PD of ‘A Master of Living,’ and while they couldn’t reveal much, it was for a global streaming platform that needed a scene showing hands playing gong-gi. They asked if I could participate, but I’d have to travel to Daejeon.
Luckily, I had already taken the day off since it was the day before my wedding. So, I decided to do it. I was curious about what kind of gong-gi scene it would be. (At that time, I thought it might be something like a gong-gi game demo for ‘The Genius’ or something.)
The next day, I went to Daejeon, signed tons of NDAs, and went in. They suggested having lunch first, so I followed them to a restaurant. They suggested having lunch first, so I followed them to a restaurant where I ended up eating with Lee Byung Hun, Lee Jung Jae, Kang Ha Neul, the director, and the assistant director who had contacted me. I couldn’t believe I was sharing a table with such famous actors in my lifetime.
While we ate, we talked about how I came to the set despite my wedding being the next day, how I got so good at gong-gi, and they even congratulated me on my wedding. It’s a shame I couldn’t take even one photo or get an autograph because of the confidentiality rules.
The shoot itself wasn’t difficult since I just had to do a one-take from Level 1 to the flips, but I was so nervous since I had to participate in the six-legged race with the actors. We finished in about two takes, much faster than I expected.
What stood out was how Kang Ha Neul kept helping me relax before and after the shoot. He even asked me to teach him how to play gong-gi, so I showed him, and we even played jegi together. After the shoot, he gave me a box of Sung Sim Dang’s chive bread for my wife. Now I understand why everyone is in love with him.
Finally, after having kept it a secret for a year, I’m revealing this alongside the premiere of ‘Squid Game’ today! I had so much fun watching it with my wife. Since I’m part of the show and all, I really hope it becomes even more successful! Hwaiting, Squid Game!
#SquidGame #GonggiMaster
— Park Jong Nam
