HoYeon Jung

“To tell you the truth, people might think going from a model to a North Korean defector would've been difficult in appearance. For me, the focus was not on the external but internal side of things, to fully understand Sae-byeok's life.”

“All that I have and will experience, even in the most minuscule way, will influence my acting.”

“I try not to dwell too much on the success of 'Squid Game.'”

“During Fashion Week, my skin becomes sensitive, so I always put on a sheet mask before I go to bed.”

“Squid Game' came at a moment where I was really thinking seriously about my acting career, so I wanted to put this into action finally.”

“I thought to myself, What should I do for a living so that I can keep feeding myself? And I thought, Oh, I'm tall, so why not give modeling a try?”

“I told my colorist, 'I think a little redder than usual,' since there were still three weeks before Fashion Week. It turned out super red. But really, it suits me so well!”

“Now, I feel very comfortable with the 'Squid Game' team, so I can slowly get used to this success with people. But when I was at home by myself watching this growth, I was like, 'What?'”

“I am 176 centimeters tall, which is considered average for models. If I were taller, I would've been active in the high-end fashion industry and if I were shorter, I would be a popular commercial model appearing on magazine and TV shows.”

“When I'd travel by myself on airplanes and stay at hotels, I spent most of my days just watching movies.”

“Squid Game' is a story about human nature that most people can already relate to, yet everything is communicated through easy-to-follow childhood games.”

“With time, I believe, a day would come when people have their own definitions of Jung Ho-yeon as an actor.”

“I'm honored to kickstart my acting career with Louis Vuitton, which I've worked with throughout my modeling career.”

“I couldn't follow the speed of the growth of the 'Squid Game' success because since COVID, I think everything is faster and even online, it happens just so quick. It was hard to follow.”

“I want to improve every day and maintain a steady pace without ever losing my resolve to work hard.”

“I tried many ways to become the real Sae-byeok.”

“Had I been a contestant in 'Squid Game,' I would have died doing the dalgona.”

“Acting is something I had been thinking about all the time, though not seriously.”

“Even though I was based in New York, I would travel all over the world, meeting so many different types of people, and that's really when my understanding of diversity deepened.”

“I want to meet my fans for a long time, as a real actor.”