O Yeong-su made history as the first Korean actor to win at the Golden Globe Awards and he thanked people for the feat.
The 77-year-old Korean triumphed at the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards held on Jan. 9 (Jan. 10 in the Philippines) at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
He won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for his role in Netflix’s global hit Korean series “Squid Game.”
Other nominees for the award were Billy Crudup of “The Morning Show,” “Kieran Culkin of “Succession,” “Mark Duplass of “The Morning Show” and “Brett Goldstein of “Ted Lasso.”
In “Squid Game,” O Yeong-su is player No. 001 Oh Il-nam who has a brain tumor. The drama tells the story of 456 debt-ridden individuals who are recruited to play deadly games for a prize of 45.6 billion won (about $38.5 million).
“Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series-Drama but failed to win.
The award went to Jeremy Strong from “Succession.” Other nominees in the category were Brian Cox from “Succession,” Billy Porter from “Pose” and Omar Sy from “Lupin.”
“Squid Game” was also nominated for Best Television Series-Drama, which was won by “Succession.” Other nominees were “Lupin,” “The Morning Show” and “Pose.”
Upon learning that he won, O Yeong-su released a statement through Netflix, which cut ties with the Golden Globes over several issues including diversity.
"When I first heard the news, I told myself, 'I'm a decent man' for the first time in my life,” said O Yeong-su who was born in 1944, a year before Korea was divided, which eventually became South and North Korea.
O Yeong-su added, "While embracing the scent of our culture and the love for my family deep in my heart, I would like to thank everyone around the world. I wish you all live a beautiful life. Thank you,” according to SBS News.
“Squid Game” was released on Netflix on Sept. 17 and became the streaming giant’s biggest show ever.
The series changed O Yeong-su’s life, bringing him instant fame. He became a guest on the Korean entertainment show “Hangout with Yoo” last October where he talked about “Squid Game.”
He said then that he has been acting for 58 years, starting in 1963. He has no manager and he received a lot of phone calls after “Squid Game” became popular.
“Since I don’t have a manager, it is hard for me to handle the volume of calls. So my daughter is helping me,” he said.
He added, “Now that I became popular overnight, some people called me. They asked me how I felt now that I have gone international.”
About his sudden popularity, he said, “I feel like I am in the air. So I am trying to calm myself down now so I can restrain myself.”
When asked what he would do if he had 45.6 billion won in the bank, he said, “I am not sure. I have never thought of that. First of all, I would like to make things comfortable for people around me. And I think I will donate some of the money to society.”
“At my age, I don’t want a lot of things. I just want to do something for my daughter so she can have an easy life. A life she can do what she wants. And I would like to spend it on my wife for the things she never had. I want to give her what she deserves one at a time,” O Yeong-su said.