“Squid Game” Actor Lee Jung Jae Spills On The Surprising Way His Career Began

He was discovered in an unconventional way.

Squid Games actor Lee Jung Jae recently filmed a “career preview” video with the Korean variety YouTube channel, ODG.

Lee Jung Jae | @from_jjlee/Instagram

The seasoned actor has had an incredibly successful film and television career spanning nearly three decades. Most recently, Lee Jung Jae made his directorial debut with the upcoming movie Hunt, which he also starred in.

Ahead of the film’s release, Lee Jung Jae sat down with ODG to go over his extensive history in the entertainment industry, and his interviewers were 12-year-old elementary school student, Sunghyun, and Hometown Cha Cha Cha child actress, Kim Min Seo.

Kim Min Seo | @actress_minseo/Instagram

As Kim Min Seo and Sunghyun prepared for their interview, they were kept in the dark about who would be the episode’s special guest.

Both kids were shocked when the famous actor Lee Jung Jae entered the room.

Lee Jung Jae reviewed his film and television history with the two younger guests while determining if they knew him from projects other than Squid Games.

Being in the entertainment industry herself, Kim Min Seo correctly identified many of Lee Jung Jae’s former projects.

Sungjae struggled to identify Lee Jung Jae in other works but surprisingly knew many of Lee Jung Jae’s iconic lines.

As they discussed his many shows and movies, Lee Jung Jae revealed the unconventional way he was discovered.

When speaking with Kim Min Seo, he shared that he never dreamed he would be an actor when he was growing up. He was incredibly discovered while working a part-time job at a cafe. While it might be difficult to judge someone’s acting skills from their part-time job, the designer who discovered him made an impressive decision, seeing as he’s one of Korea’s top actors.

After being discovered, he landed a role as a model in a commercial, and it was so well-received that a writer cast him in the hit drama Sandglass.

He shared that his career seemed to piece together naturally, but that led him to question whether he was cut out for the career and if he was, what kind of actor he wanted to be, and what kind of actor he was capable of being.

With his impressive history and incredible acting performances, there is no doubt he was meant to be an actor.

| @from_jjlee/Instagram

Check out the video below for the full interview!