The global hit Netflix series “Squid Game” has not only brought popularity to its stars but spotlighted on props used on the show.
One of these is dalgona, or Korean candy made of sugar and baking soda, which is featured in episode 3 of “Squid Game.”
Last year during the pandemic, dalgona coffee became popular as people stayed at home due to restrictions.
Netflix Korea released a video on Oct. 9 about “Squid Game Challenge” showing the stars making dalgona.
In "Squid Game," Wi Ha-joon plays police officer Jun-ho, Jung Ho-yeon as player 067 Sae-byeok, Heo Sung-tae as player 101 Deok-su, Anupam Tripathi as player 199 Abdul Ali, Kim Joo-ryoung as player 212 Minyeo and Lee Yoo-mi as player 240 Ji-yeong.
The stars said they have experienced how popular “Squid Game” is, with Kim Joo-ryoung saying, “Yes, I think wherever I go, people around me always bring up ‘Squid Game.’
One proof is that the number of their Instagram followers has skyrocketed since “Squid Game” was released on Sept. 17.
“I got so many new followers on Instagram,” said Lee Yoo-mi. Her number of Instagram followers exploded from 37,721 on Sept. 17 to 5,725,715 as of Oct. 9, according to analytics website Social Blade.
Wi Ha-joon also said, “I got so many new followers ” while Kim Joo-ryoung commented that “a lot of foreign fans are visiting my Instagram account.”
“And they tell me I’m pretty. Am I pretty?” she said.
From 340,830 Instagram followers on Sept. 17, Wi Ha-joon’s followers grew to 7,493,644 as of Oct. 9. Kim Joo-ryoung has 1.8 million followers to date.
Through the popularity of “Squid Game,” Jung Ho-yeon is now the No. 1 most followed Korean actress on Instagram with 18 million followers from 400,000 last month.
“It’s quite chaotic,” she said. “So many things happened in such a short period of time.”
Heo Sung-tae, who plays a villain in “Squid Game,” said, “I kind of saw this coming. It’s a well-known game in Korea but non-Koreans would have never imagined this.” His Instagram followers increased from 57,906 on Sept. 23 to 1,718,430 as of Oct. 9.
“I’m filled with joy,” said Indian actor Anupam Tripathi, who plays a Pakistani foreign worker in Korea in “Squid Game.” He now has 3.1 million Instagram followers.
There are six deadly games in “Squid Game” and the stars chose which game was the hardest to play and film.
Kim Joo-ryoung, Heo Sung-tae and Lee Yoo-mi chose tug of war as the hardest game to play while filming the show.
“That was the hardest,” said Lee Yoo-mi. “Because we were doing it against a machine, not a group of people. So no matter how hard we pulled, nothing happened.”
Anupam Tripathi chose the marble game, saying, “The last scene was the hardest. Because it was when we built this friendship but only one person could survive. So I had to make a decision there. I thought, ‘Can I really make that decision?’ I thought, ‘Can I really do it?’” In the marble game, players are grouped into twos. Whoever loses the game is shot.
The stars thanked fans all over the world for watching and supporting “Squid Game.”
“Thank you so much for your love and support. We are so thankful,” said Lee Yoo-mi.
Kim Joo-ryoung said, “Really thankful” while Wi Ha-joon said, “I don’t know how to put it in words. I’m living everyday like it’s a dream.
“But I really appreciate it, “said Tripathi while Heo Sung-tae said, “It was an honor to have been part of this show.”
“I’m thankful to everyone who made ‘Squid Game’ possible. And, of course, all the fans around the world. I’ll live everyday with that in mind,” said Jung Ho-yeon.