"I learned a lot from this character" : Squid Game's T.O.P reveals how portraying Thanos helped him

Netflix finally unveiled the official trailer for Squid Game Season 3 at its Tudum event on May 31, 2025, which doubled the excitement and anticipation of fans for the upcoming final season of the series. Squid Game Season 3 will continue Gi-hun’s journey from where Season 2 left it, exploring what Gi-hun might do next to destroy the game.

Before the trailer release, the whole cast of Squid Game 3 attended a pre-promo event in Los Angeles on May 29 and 30, 2025. The event, followed by a press conference, was attended by all the cast members of Season 3 and also one of the popular characters from Season 2. BIGBANG’s T.O.P/ Choi Seung-hyun, who portrayed the character of Thanos, was also seen attending the event and later the press conference.

In the press conference, he shared how grateful he was to creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who gave him the role that helped him reflect on his past mistakes and move on in life. He stated:

"I needed to muster up a lot of courage to take on this role but Director Hwang gave me so much trust so that I could have the confidence to play this role and while creating this character Thanos, I could self-reflect about my past and I think I can finally move on to a new chapter of my life, so I learned a lot from this character."

More on this in our story.

BIGBANG’s T.O.P talked about moving on from his past mistakes by portraying Squid Game’s Thanos

T.O.P portrayed the character of Thanos/ Choi Su-bong in Squid Game Season 2. Thanos was player 230, an arrogant and average rapper, and a drug addict. He targeted Im Si-wan’s Lee Myung-gi throughout the game, as he was also one of the victims of Myung-gi’s cryptocurrency scam. He was killed in the bathroom during a fight when Myung-gi stabbed him in the throat with a knife.

While Thanos might have died, the role has become a fan favorite of Squid Game. The role also brought back T.O.P. to the public's attention. In a Q&A event during the press conference on May 29 and 30, T.O.P talked about making mistakes in his life, referring to the drug case of 2017 and how playing Thanos brought back the memories of those mistakes. He said:

"I have made my mistakes in the past, and I have to come face to face with those mistakes when I was playing this character."

At the event, while talking about his past and how it helped him move on, he also talked about how he wanted to portray the character and how much fun he had playing it. He also talked about his opinion of Thanos, whom he thinks is not a clear-cut villain, and describes him as a loose cannon.

He said:

"Because Thanos is so dorky and cringe, I don’t think he’s a flat villain. He’s like the loose canon. You don’t know what he’s going to do next."

He continued:

"So, I wanted to create this very unique, never-before seen character with Thanos and I had a lot of talks with director Hwang about it, and I enjoyed being on set being Thanos."

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Squid Game Season 3 will premiere on Netflix on June 27, 2025.

Also Read: 5 new K-dramas to watch out for in June 2025: Squid Game 3, Head Over Heels, and more

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