How Casting For The Show Worked (456 Players Were Chosen)

Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 features 456 participants, and it’s time to talk about how they were chosen. The new reality series just dropped at Netflix, and producers went out of their way to mimic the scripted series, Squid Game. That meant inspiring fear with nail-biting suspense. The production team also added drama with costumes (the green tracksuits are now iconic) and creative sets. The show will feature the same sick games that made the OG series a disturbing sensation. Like characters in a Grimm’s fairy tale, the contestants “play,” but the stakes are sky-high. While the reality show isn’t “do or die,” the eliminations are extremely intense.

The original South Korean series took viewers down the rabbit hole and then put them on a thrill ride. There were dizzying twists and turns that evoked so much emotion. Right from the start, the series had an unusual amount of shock value. The first coldblooded killings were perhaps unexpected – it was chilling to watch the giant doll mow down the competitors. Since the backstories of participants were deftly drawn, it was all too easy to feel for the doomed characters. Now, viewers get to cycle through the same prism of emotions while they watch the reality version. Sometimes, it’s fun to be scared.

How Did Squid Game: The Challenge Producers Choose Cast Members?

The contestants are from the USA (one hails from Puerto Rico), and producers opted for English-speaking cast members. Some contestants can be seen in the trailer, via Netflix at YouTube. So, this series, while inspired by a South Korean gem, has a decidedly American vibe. The producers invited potential participants to submit applications. After those online applications were received, the show’s higher-ups began to review candidates. Each application featured a video, and the clips helped producers to decide who was right for the show. Those whom show-runners deemed the most interesting were called. Then, producers let the applicants know who they’d chosen.

It must have been exciting to get cast on this reality series. Almost everyone has watched the orignal show, Squid Game. Of course, producers aren’t going to veer too far away from that highly successful formula. While no one’s going to die, they may feel like it’s life or death. That’s the type of intensity that Squid Game: The Challenge is all about. It remains to be seen if the reality series will be as successful as the show that inspired it, but so far, the chatter about the series is very positive.