Lee Jung-jae’s 10kg Weight Loss for 'Squid Game 3' Reflects Deep Character Dedication

By Jiyoun, Moon

Jul 03, 2025

Lee Jung-jae’s 10kg Weight Loss for 'Squid Game 3' Reflects Deep Character Dedication
photo courtesy of Netflix



Actor Lee Jung-jae (53) said he lost 10kg and was immersed in Sung Ki-hoon.

Lee Jung-jae met with Sports Chosun at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 3rd and interviewed Netflix's original series 'Squid Game 3' (written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk). In an interview earlier, director Hwang Dong-hyuk said of Lee Jung-jae, `I ate only real vegetables and dried up by Sung Ki-hoon himself. I lost weight by eating alone in the car without eating together in the middle of the shoot.

In response, Lee Jung-jae said, `The director would have written and filmed for the fans who liked the season 1 of the movie, Squid Game.' In fact, I've never received such great support and love, so I wanted to do my best in that area, and I thought I should do it. So I tried to do anything, and I thought that one of those 'what' was to show even a little change in appearance. So I refused to have a fun dinner and couldn't eat together at lunchtime. As you know, there's always a rice cart on the set, but I barely got there."




Lee Jung-jae’s 10kg Weight Loss for 'Squid Game 3' Reflects Deep Character Dedication
photo courtesy of Netflix
Lee Jung-jae then gradually lost about 10kg. I asked the person who prepared the meal at the restaurant to steam only vegetables among the side dishes that day, and there was no need to do anything else that day. You pack three meals in a Styrofoam lunch box, and now you have one for lunch, and dinner?? I ate one, then I took it to the accommodation and ate it the next morning. However, from the middle of the year, they reduced three to two and reduced it to one and divided one into three meals two months before the last scene. But now 'Squid Game' The basic concept and rule of the game hall is 'You feed food'. They give out gimbap and iron old lunch boxes. I was eating it, and I thought Ki-hoon wouldn't have eaten it if he thought he would have eaten it. When you get stressed and panic, your body crushes like a dried squid. I wondered if I should try something like that. I wondered what it would be like if it was well-appeared on the screen."

Lee Jung-jae also went on three diets during "catch". At that time, I was on a blind diet, but at that time, I had severe hair loss and then gastrointestinal disorders. I learned later that it's a phenomenon that happens when I'm on a bad diet, so I didn't do that much this time"Ko said.

Only after losing his best friend in a game that he participated again with his own purpose 'Gihoon', 'Frontman' who hid himself in the game 'Frontman', and the story of the last fate of the participants who survived the cruel game 'Squid Game' Season 3 has recorded 60,100,000 viewers (viewing time divided by the total running time of the work) in just three days in the first week of its release, realizing the hot popularity at home and abroad.




Season 3 of 'Squid Game' has recorded 60,100,000 views in just three days since its release on June 27, topping all 93 countries, including the U.S., Japan, France, and Brazil, as well as South Korea. It was Netflix's first film to top all countries in its first week of release, proving its all-time box office success.

In addition, in the first week of its release, it ranked 9th in Netflix's all-time series (non-English), and season 1, 2 and 3 all ranked in the top 10 in Netflix's all-time most popular series (non-English). In addition, season 2 ranked third in the series (non-English) and season 1 ranked sixth in the global TOP 10, which compiled the number of viewers over the past week, proving that it is a work that receives great attention from fans around the world.





lunamoon@sportschosun.com