Just when I thought he couldn’t petrify me any more!

In season two, The Recruiter was arguably more unhinged than ever. But it turns out one terrifying detail with The Recruiter wasn’t even in the Squid Game script – the actor made it up on the spot. I don’t know how to feel about this information?

The Recruiter has always been scary. This season, the Russian Roulette game he played in the first episodes was a peak of this. Him being sat there with blood splatter across his face was unsettling stuff. One part of this ongoing scene was completely made up by Gong Yoo, the actor who plays The Recruiter. Honestly, this just scares me even more.

People have been sharing a transcript of an interview with the creator of Squid Game, in which he admitted the creepy part of the scene with Gi-hun and The Recruiter was ad-lib. In one moment, The Recruiter teased Gi-hun with a gun, threatening to kill one of them.

Whilst telling Gi-hun of his dark backstory, The Recruiter flashed his gun at Gi-hun, and then back at himself. Then, he played a twisted game with him. He filled his gun with just one bullet, and five chambers were left empty. He spun the gun, and whoever it pointed at, had to shoot the gun at themselves – risking they’d get the chamber with the bullet in.

[👥] <squid game> director, hwang donghyuk, mentioned gong yoo in his latest interview.

“the part where he puts the gun in his mouth was actually gong yoo’s ad-lib. watching that, i realized how much he had been holding back to fully embody the villain.” pic.twitter.com/IfTILFzesR

— 공유, 배우이자 인간 (@thegongyoo) January 5, 2025

During one of his goes, The Recruiter shoved the gun up to the roof of his mouth. But this wasn’t meant to happen! “I tried to describe The Recruiter as mysterious in the script, but Gong Yoo showed me more than I expected on set,” the creator explained.

“I was surprised by the expression he showed me for the first time in his life. On top of that, the red lighting that made his face stand out was well used, so it felt perfect. The scene where he puts the gun in his mouth was Gong Yoo’s own ad-lib. When I saw that, I thought this guy had been holding back a lot to play his villain role, and I watched him in surprise when I was watching him on the monitor.

The creator added that The Recruiter was the first time Gong Yoo has ever played a “villain” character before. Great, how am I meant to sleep at night now?