Image: Vogue, February 2022 with Jeong Ho-yeon on the cover. Credit: Vogue.
On January 10, O Yeong-su 오영수, from the hit Netflix series Squid Game 오징어게임 became the first Korean to win a Golden Globe award as he won Best Performance by an Actor in Supporting Role on Television, over Billy Crudup of the Morning Show and Kieran Culkin of Succession.
The 78-year-old O, a veteran of South Korea’s stage scene, played the scene-stealing role O Il-nam 오일남, an old man dying from cancer playing the deadly money game. The Golden Globe this year had no televised ceremony, as most stars (including the cast of Squid Game) boycotted the award for its committee’s lack of diversity. In a statement released through Netflix, O said: “Today, we are not in the world, but the world is in us. I thank the viewers around the world with the fragrance of our culture and love for our family.”
Separately, Jeong Ho-yeon 정호연, the female lead of Squid Game, is the cover model for the February 2022 US edition of Vogue - the first Asian ever to appear solo as a cover model since the magazine was founded in 1892. (Previously, Asian models had appeared as part of a group for Vogue US, and solo Asian cover models had appeared in the international editions of Vogue.) The cover appearance for 27-year-old Jeong is a return to her roots, as Squid Game was her first acting gig after having debuted as a fashion model in 2010.