In Squid Game 2, rapper Thanos is a comedic and quite extravagant character, but many probably don't know the story behind this character and the actor who's played him.
If you are not that familiar with K-Pop or the South Korean music industry, then you probably haven't heard about this incident before. Don't worry, we will explain how real the character Thanos actually is, and how this role has been life-changing for the actor.
Squid Game 2: Thanos' tragic backstory
Thanos is an extravagant and comedic character in the second season of Squid Game. He is played by "T.O.P" (Choi Seung-hyun), one of the most popular rappers in South-Korea.
He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and debuted as the lead rapper of the boy band BigBang in 2006. The group became one of the best-selling groups of all time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world.
In 2018 however, while he was attending his two-year long military service, which is mandatory in South-Korea, he got arrested for the use of marijuana. The use of drugs is highly illegal.
A few days after the incident, he was found unconscious due to a suspected anti-anxiety medicine overdose. Gladly, he managed to recover, but was charged to two years of probation for the usage of drugs.
After that, he didn't appear in the public eye anymore. Due to his image taking a huge hit from all that, no one in the industry wanted to work with him anymore – except for his old friend Lee Jung-jae, who plays the main character Gi-hun and the series' director Hwang Dong-hyuk.
Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed that the decision to cast him was deliberate and stemmed from the layered complexity T.O.P could bring to the role.
Despite the actor’s years-long absence from the entertainment industry, Hwang saw his potential to embody a character like Thanos – extravagant, flawed, and deeply human.
Hwang explained in a press conference, “I was aware of Seung-hyun’s history, but I also saw the depth and charisma he could bring to this role. Rapper Thanos is someone with a complicated past and a larger-than-life presence, and I believed T.O.P was the right person to bring him to life.”
Doesn't matter if he's T.O.P or Thanos, Choi Seung-hyun truly is iconic pic.twitter.com/omICEAJRnV
— Squid Game (@squidgame) January 4, 2025