‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Makers On Finding 456 Leads And Embracing The Chaos – Contenders TV: Doc + Unscripted
deadline.comCasting for Netflix’s reality competition series Squid Game: The Challenge was a unique challenge: finding 456 diverse and international lead characters.
Casting director Erika Dobrin described the gargantuan task by saying, “I don’t think that’s ever quite been done before on the scale it was done here.” The Netflix series, based on the streaming’s mega-hit Korean survival drama Squid Game, saw 456 contestants compete for a massive $4.56 million prize through a series of challenges.
These ranged from the infamous “Red Light Green Light” from the 2021 drama, in which contestants had to avoid moving while in the eyeline of a horrifying giant doll, to new ones based on children’s games such as Battleship. RELATED: Contenders TV Doc + Unscripted – Deadline’s Full Coverage “The most terrifying thing was following story with a cast that big,” said John Hay, executive producer at co-producer The Garden, during a panel for the show at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted.
The continuous elimination element of the show meant Dobrin could find “the most amazing person, and then they were gone in ‘Red Light Green Light’ ” – the first game of Episode 1. “I had to make sure every person would be good enough to win if they won,” she added.
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