Emmy's 2022: Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae Wins Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series

The race for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series at this year's Emmy Awards has been impossibly tough to call. Each nominee is well loved by both critics and fans, as are the shows they represent. Succession is an Emmy powerhouse. Better Call Saul has won before and could possibly be the most acclaimed series on television. Ozark has shown up big in the past, while both Squid Game and Severance represent game-changing newcomers that could shake up the Emmy landscape.

An actor from one of these shows had to win the Emmy on Monday night. Jason Bateman, Brian Cox, Lee Jung-jae, Bob Odenkirk, Adam Scott, and Jeremy Strong were all nominated, but Lee Jung-jae's name was called and he was handed the Emmy.

Lee makes history with his Emmy win, as he's the first to win a major acting award for a role in a non-English language series. He will be seen in the upcoming Star Wars: Acolyte series on Disney+, as well as the second season of Squid Game.

Squid Game Season 2 isn't in production yet, but Netflix has officially ordered it and creator/director Hwang Dong-hyuk has been working on writing the second installment.

"I'm not really in the right place to be discussing season 2 in an official setting, but if there were to be a season 2, in the first season that we saw Gi-hun is a character whose humanity is shown through or exposed in certain situations," Hwang explained during a virtual panel hosted by EW. "In other words, his humanity is shown through a very passive manner. But I would think that in the second season, what he has learned from the games and his experience in the first season, they will all be put to use in a more active manner."

"And at the same time, as for the Front Man [Lee Byung-hun] who was also a past winner but became a Front Man, it's like Darth Vader," the creator continued. "Some end up Jedi and some become Darth Vader, right? I think that maybe Gi-hun will go through a certain critical point where he is put through a test as well."