Already a well-known figure in South Korea’s entertainment scene, actor Lee Jung-jae shot to global stardom for his role as Seong Gi-hun, the main protagonist of Netflix’s survival drama Squid Game.
Now, he’s making his Hollywood (and intergalactic) debut as the male lead in Disney Plus’ Star Wars series, The Acolyte, reports Variety. He’s set to star alongside female lead Amandla Stenberg as well as Jodie Turner-Smith in the series, helmed by Leslye Headland who will take on the reins as showrunner, director, writer, and executive producer.
The Acolyte series is set a century before the events of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, which goes further back in time than any live-action Star Wars title. It promises to take viewers into the galaxy during the final days of the High Republic era, when the Jedi were at their strongest and the Sith were believed to have been eradicated from the galaxy.
It’s been an exciting year for the veteran actor, who earlier this May also made his directorial debut with Hunt, a spy thriller film set in the 1980s that stars Lee himself and Jung Woo-sung.
Squid Game recently bagged four Emmys at the 74th edition of the Creative Arts Emmys, presented on Sept 3 and 4, including Outstanding Special Effects in a Single Episode, Outstanding Stunt Performance and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program. South Korean actress Lee Yoo-mi, who played ex-con Ji-yeong, or Player No. 240, also won an award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a drama series.
On Sep 13 ( SGT), Lee Jung-jae and the Squid Game team will head for the Emmys as presenters, as well as first-time nominees under the first non-English language series to ever be up for top drama.
And in other Squid Game-related news, the Los Angeles City Council has also appointed Sep 17 as ‘Squid Game Day’, to acknowledge and celebrate the barriers that the show has broken for the AAPI community in film and entertainment. Sep 17 marks the date Squid Game first premiered on Netflix last year.