Lee Jung-Jae, the star of “Squid Game,” became the first Asian actor to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and the show is still making waves worldwide.
On Sunday evening, the South Korean star of the most watched program on Netflix ever officially received the award.
At the 2022 Emmy Awards, Lee Jung Jae’s portrayal in Squid Game earned him the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series award.
Netflix’s most popular show ‘Squid Game’ has earned a total of 14 Emmy nominations including the Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, among others.
Lee Jung-Jae is also the first Asian actor to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2022 Emmy Awards.
He said when accepting the prize, “Thank you to the Television Academy, thank you to Netflix, and thank you to the director for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen with a great script. Thank you, ‘Squid Game team. Thank you to everyone watching in Korea.”
“I’ve been an actor for three decades, and I feel like we go through a huge transition in terms of the industry every decade,” Lee said. “In the past, when we would create something Korean and take that overseas, we wanted them to see our story and our culture.
And I think now … we are living in a world where there is abundant communication with anyone from all around the world, so I feel that if we feel truly in our hearts that something we made is great and very entertaining, that naturally translates overseas, and it is understood and enjoyed anywhere.
Now I look forward to any great idea and working on it with free creativity and free vision so that it can be enjoyed by many people all around the world.”
He is the only fourth Asian actor ever to win in any of the Emmy performance categories and the first to win the drama award for a non-English speaking role.
The Squid Game star won the coveted Emmy during Monday’s ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
This year’s nominees included Jason Bateman for Ozark, Brian Cox for Succession, Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul, Adam Scott for Severance, and Jeremy Strong for Succession.
Presented by Angela Bassett and Ariana DeBose in stunning purple and yellow gowns.
Squid Game is the first show in a non-English language to be nominated for outstanding drama series.
Creator of the series Hwang Dong-hyuk won the Emmy for drama series directing with “Squid Game,” taking home the night’s top honor.
The show is about a deadly game of survival in which competitors with financial difficulties compete for a cash reward. The prize has never been won by an Asian or a native Korean before him.
(However, Jesse Armstrong of “Succession” defeated Hwang for the drama series writing award, and “Succession,” a past champion, defeated “Squid Game” for the drama series Emmy.)