How did Jung Ho-yeon’s modelling career inspire her Squid Game performance? Before her Netflix fame, she walked for top fashion brands Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel …

Oct 20 , 2021

Jung Ho-yeon said that she drew on her modelling experience to portray Kang Sae-byeok in Netflix’s Squid Game. Photo: @hoooooyeony/Instagram

A runner-up on season 4 of Korea’s Next Top Model, Jung said she channelled her competitiveness in the reality TV show to portray Kang Sae-byeok, Player 067

Acting in Netflix’s most popular series propelled her to overnight stardom, gaining her a whopping 19 million Instagram followers after its September premiere

Supermodel-turned-actress Jung Ho-yeon from hit Korean survival drama Squid Game said that being on Korea’s Next Top Model prepared her to play her character on the Netflix original series.

Jung Ho-yeon in a still from Squid Game. Photo: Netflix

Jung starred as Kang Sae-byeok (Player 067), one of 456 adults on the brink of financial ruin who are invited to play children’s games to win 45 billion won, or about US$40 million – but losing the games has deadly consequences.

Jung was tasked with portraying a North Korean defector who took part in the deadly games with hopes of using the prize money for her younger brother and to help her mother escape the country.

Before starring in Squid Game, Jung was one of the runners-up in season four of Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013, and in 2016, she landed a contract with Louis Vuitton and walked the runway for luxury brands like Chanel and Gucci.

Jung said she tapped into aspects of the modelling competition show to develop her character.

Jung Ho-yeon in a photo shoot during season four of Korea’s Next Top Model. Photo: @koreanxmodel/Twitter

“I didn’t think I grafted the competitive and strong-willed versions of myself from Korea’s Next Top Model to Sae-byeok’s character,” Jung told NBC Asian America. “But thinking of it now, maybe I still have those aspects within me, which helped me understand the role. And I’ve grown to accept that part of me, as well.”

She acknowledged the difficulty in physically trying to portray a North Korean defector given her career as a model, and said she instead focused on psychologically understanding Sae-byeok’s life to accurately portray her character.