One of the most intriguing newcomers in Squid Game season 3 is Park Gyu-young’s Guard 011.
Real name Kang No-eul, the Pink Guard holds firm to a moral code, refusing to participate in the black market organ trade – even as it puts her at odds with the other Triangles and her boss – and instead making a point of finishing off the unlucky eliminated players. Naturally, this is quite the fascinating character trait, considering No-eul is helping uphold these sadistic games in the first place.
“I don’t want to say it’s justification for those Pink Guards who are standing on the wrong side of the system, and not all Pink Guards are like her, but for my character, No-eul, she holds on to that minimal amount of humanity that’s left in her,” said Park at a press conference attended by GamesRadar+.
“So that’s why she wants to just finish off the players and stop the corrupt guards from harvesting their organs,” she continued. “That’s what she tries to do. And I’m not trying to say that all Pink Guards are good or evil, but for No-eul, she has that basic minimal amount of things that she has to uphold as a human being, and that’s why she makes her choices.”
All we really know about No-eul so far is that she was part of the North Korean military, and she defected after killing her superior officer. In the process, she was forced to leave her daughter behind, though she hasn’t given up on finding her. No-eul also has a connection to Player 246, since they used to work in the same theme park together, and she seems to have a vested interest in the recovery of his own daughter, who is gravely ill.
(Image credit: Netflix)
“I’m actually not a very flexible or an athletic person, but I went through rigorous action training,” Park explained of her preparation for the role. “And everything was choreographed, so we had lots of rehearsals and I could get ready for those stunt scenes. And in the universe of Squid Game, my character No-eul is like the best sniper, she’s the best soldier from the North. So I had to do a lot of weight training to make sure that she was very fit and agile.
“Because I did this training, and I also went on a diet to make sure that I looked very dry and I had chapped skin to fit my character, and I think that actually helped when I was trying to portray my emotions as well, because when you have dry chapped skin, you also feel like more of a dry, emotionless person,” she added. “So it helped me both ways.”
Squid Game season 3 arrives on Netflix this June 27. In the meantime, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix shows, or see our roundup of all the most exciting new TV shows still to come this year.
