Among the new names starring in the second season of Netflix thriller series Squid Game is a faintly familiar face.
Playing the role of rapper Thanos, Choi Seung-hyun is making his comeback in the bloody South Korean drama. He first found fame in the world of K-pop as rapper T. O. P in the popular boy band BigBang, but fell out of public favour in the years since.
But his performance in Squid Game could push the entertainment industry to embrace Choi again in the wake of his 2017 arrest in South Korea for substance abuse.
Beyond the strong reviews, Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk was impressed by Choi's performance on set. “It took a lot of guts to portray this character, especially someone who shares quite negative similarities to him as a person,” Hwang told People.
“So I think it took a lot of courage to take on that role. Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively, and I'm very satisfied with what he did with the character.”
Here are five other things to know about Choi.
1. He plays a complex character in Squid Game
Choi’s portrayal of fallen rapper Thanos has been a talking point. Brash, irascible and with loud purple hair, Choi dials up the drama and diva within Thanos by portraying him as deeply troubled yet charismatic, his cheeky grin often disguising the malevolence beneath.
2. A seasoned acting career
The fact that Choi looks so at ease on screen should not come as a surprise to those following his career. His role in Squid Game is one of many he has gained since his 2007 television debut in I Am Sam.
The romantic K-drama, which featured Squid Game co-star Yang Dong-eun, marked the beginning of his acting journey. In 2010, Choi made his mark with the South Korean war film 71: Into the Fire, earning him a slew of local film prizes, including Best New Actor at the 2010 Blue Dragon Film Awards. Choi also landed lead roles in the stylish 2014 crime drama Tazza: The Hidden Card before his last film, the German-Chinese spy thriller Out of Control in 2017.
3. He was a K-pop star
Choi’s film status was bolstered by a promising music career. A founding member of the successful K-pop band BigBang – its success partly paved the way for future stars like EXO and BTS – Choi was both the frontman and co-songwriter behind hits such as Fantastic Baby and Bad Boy.
His nimble rapping was also supported by a rich tenor, which scored him solo hits with Turn It Up in 2010 and Doom Dada three years later. All that acclaim propelled him to become a fashion personality, having been seen at Paris Fashion Week in 2016.
Choi and BigBang were due to perform as part of the 2020 Coachella music festival, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, he confirmed that he was no longer a member of the group.
4. Choi's career revival
Before this small-screen return, a central reason for Choi's career fallout was his arrest in 2017 for substance abuse. The incident occurred while he was serving mandatory military service in South Korea and involved a fellow trainee.
Not only did it result in a 10-month suspended sentence, but South Korea's strict laws prohibiting drug use, coupled with the moral standards expected from K-pop stars, caused his entertainment career to languish for nearly a decade.
Completing his military service in 2019, Choi only re-emerged through Squid Game season two and it remains to be seen if he plans to make a musical comeback.
The five pillars of Islam
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
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The five pillars of Islam
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
