Lee Jong Jae was paid $2,3 million to play Squid. How much did His Colleagues Earn on the Show.
Netflix's South Korean drama Squid Game is undoubtedly the biggest show right now. Here's how much Lee Jung Jae and his co-stars earned.
The nine-episode series reportedly cost a staggering 20 billion won (approx.
At a cost of 2.5 billion won ($2.1 million) per episode, Squid game is also one of the most expensive Korean series of all time.
Lee Jung Jae, who plays Song Ki Hoon, also known as Player 456, has seen his fortune grow along with his popularity.
The actor, who was already a household name in South Korea before starring in The Squid Game, is believed to have earned 300 million won (about $255) per episode. This makes Jung Jae the second highest paid Korean actor.
Playing as Ki Hoon's childhood friend, Jo Sang Woo, also known as Player 218, is Park Hae Soo, who rose to fame after starring in the 2017 drama Prison Manual.
Although Sang Woo is one of the more famous characters in Game of Squid, Hae Soo is thought to have earned only a fraction of what Jung Jae was paid, about $740 for the series.
The 27-year-old model ranks third on the pay scale. Jung Ho Young who caused the internet to explode after playing North Korean defector Kang Sae Byuk, aka Player 067.
As Playing Squid was her acting debut, it is speculated that she earned "tens of thousands of dollars" per episode.
Sure, it may not seem like much compared to her two co-stars, but Ho Young has seen her popularity skyrocket through the show.
Since the series' debut on Netflix, Ho-young's Instagram followers have grown from 400000 to 13,6 million, making her the most followed Korean actress (and beating Song Hye-kyo in the process) on social media.
As for the extras on the show or those who play fatter supporting roles like Anupam Tripathi's Abdul Ali (Player 199), they can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands per episode.