When ’s previous show became a global phenomenon, creator was among the many viewers who helped make it Netflix’s most popular non-English speaking series. On top of that, she was also writing ’s High Republic Jedi character of Master Sol at the same time as her binge, and that’s when it dawned on the creator that the South Korean actor would be a perfect fit for the honorable Jedi. Sol would then go on to serve as a central figure of Headland’s mystery-thriller series that takes place a century before (1999).
However, Lee — whom his collaborators affectionately refer to as “J.J.” — remains rather shocked that his character, Seong Gi-hun, inspired Headland to write Sol with him in mind.
“I was actually quite surprised when Leslye [Headland] said that she saw Master Sol from my acting in , because I feel like the two characters are so different. So I was very curious about what made her feel that way,” Lee tells through an interpreter. On , Lee played a struggling father whose gambling addiction was originally meant to create a better life for his daughter, but it instead resulted in insurmountable debt until he rolled the dice once more on participating in the deadly Squid Game.
Similarly, Sol has his own paternal instincts with regard to all of the Jedi Padawans and younglings in his care, and despite the best of intentions, he feels partly responsible for the Jedi killing spree that Amandla Stenberg’s Mae embarks on at the start of the Disney+ series.
