With Emmy Win, This ‘Squid Game’ Star Has Arrived. Or Is Hollywood Just Late to His Party?

Dressed in a white suit, the lead actor of the South Korean hit drama Squid Game was attending a red carpet event in Los Angeles when a reporter for an American outlet posed a startling question to him.

“I’m sure you can’t leave the house anymore without people recognizing you. What has been the biggest life change for you since the series came out?” she asked in the event late last year.

Unbeknown to her, the 49-year-old actor Lee Jung-jae has been a household name in South Korea for nearly three decades, known for portraying a breathtaking range of characters in everything from historical drama to romances. The question bothered many by assuming that someone isn’t famous unless they’re Hollywood famous.

But now, his name is one for Western media to remember. At the 74th Emmy Awards, held on Monday, Lee made history by becoming the first Asian star to win best male actor in a drama series. 

Fans of Lee’s have joined in congratulating the star for breaking into the American mainstream. But it was also a reminder of how prestigious film awards in the U.S. are, in the words of Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, “very local.” While the awards command international influence, they often fail to recognize extraordinary talent and achievements in world cinema.

Bong was commenting specifically on the Oscars, and his 2020 black comedy thriller went on to take home six Academy Awards, including best picture. It was the first and only non-English film to take home the top prize after the first Oscars were given out in 1929.

“Not only South Korean actors get recognized too late, but also so many actors who speak languages other than English have been alienated in the West,” Kim Bo-young, a pop culture reporter for the South Korean outlet Edaily, told VICE World News.

“Through his win, many more actors will knock overseas markets more easily than [in the] past,” she said.

Lee’s big win added to a recent flurry of honors for South Korean TV, cinema, and music by U.S. critics.

At the MTV Video Music Awards in August, the boy band BTS broke a new record by winning its fourth consecutive award for best Group of the Year, the most in the ceremony’s history. Seventeen, another boy band, and Thai rapper Lisa who’s also affiliated with the girl group BLACKPINK, also made history by taking home trophies.  

Kim Zhang Wong, who used to work in the South Korean entertainment industry, said he’s ecstatic about Lee’s Emmy win.

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