Hit Hwang Donghyuk Series Makes History at Screen Actors Guild Awards with 4 Nominations

Director Hwang Donghyuk’s drama debut Squid Game continues to blaze a trail through the North American awards circuit, after landing four historic nominations for this year’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.

Lee Jungjae and Jung Hoyeon were nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor and Female Actor in a Drama Series Awards, while the Netflix drama was also nominated in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series categories.

Squid Game is the first Korean drama as well as the first non-English TV show to be represented among the SAG Awards nominees. Lee, Jung and the rest of the cast of Squid Game have also extended the streak of Korean performers nominated for SAGs to three years running, after Parasite’s historic Cast in a Motion Picture win in 2020 and Youn Yuhjung’s Female Actor in a Supporting Role win for Minari, which was also nominated for the Cast in a Motion Picture prize, last year.

A leading man in Korean cinema for well over two decades, Lee Jungjae is known for works such as City of the Rising Sun (1998), The Housemaid (2010) and New World (2013). Lee’s directorial debut Hunt is currently in post-production and expected to be released in theaters later this year.

Jung Hoyeon, a successful Korean model, made her screen debut in Squid Game and recently signed with a Hollywood agency.

Alongside Lee and Jung, co-stars Lee Byunghun, Park Haesoo, Wi Hajun, Oh Youngsoo, Heo Sungtae, Kim Jooryoung, Anupam Tripathi and Jun Youngsoo, were also nominated for the Outstanding Ensemble prize.

Prior to Squid Game, director Hwang was a successful film director known for Silenced (2011), Miss Granny (2014) and The Fortress (2017). Hwang has indicated that he is working on the second season of his Netflix hit.

The SAG nominations follow the Best Supporting Performance in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film win at the Golden Globes for Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring (2003) actor Oh Youngsoo a few days earlier. 

The 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are scheduled to take place on February 27.