On December 26, 2024, “Squid Game” Season 2 finally arrived on Netflix, drawing viewers into a new deadly children's game with life-changing prizes at stake. While some of the original cast members, from Lee Jung-jae and Wee Ha-jung to Lee Byung-hun and Gong Yoo, return, most of the time is devoted to introducing new players who are desperate and in debt.

Among the new cast members for Season 2, one who surprised fans with his dark comedic performance is Choi Seung-hyun as Thanos (Player 230), a drugged-out, retired rapper. Known as a former member of Korea's most successful idol group, Choi Seung-hyun's casting was an immediate hit with K-pop fans. Let's learn more about Choi Seung-hyun, aka T.O.P., the actor and rapper, and his decades-long entertainment career for those who don't know him. (After you finish watching the new episode, be sure to check out our breakdown of the ending of Season 2 of “Squid Game” and our guide to Season 3, which is coming soon.)

Choi, 37, is better known to music fans as the former lead rapper and visual T.O.P. of the iconic boy group BIGBANG Prior to his debut with BIGBANG in 2006, Choi began his career as an underground rapper. BIGBANG has sold over 140 million records worldwide and their song “Fantastic Baby” became the first K-pop music video to receive 300 million views on YouTube. Choi also released solo singles such as “Turn It Up” and “Doom Dada.”

After a tumultuous and prolonged hiatus (see below for details), Choi left YG Entertainment in 2022 and officially withdrew from BIGBANG in June 2023. Although he has not released any solo music recently, he did co-write the group's 2022 single “Still Life.”

Just a year after his music debut, Choi landed his first acting role in the romantic K-drama I Am Sam. In fact, the star co-starred with his “Squid Game” co-stars early in his career. She co-starred with Yang Dong-woong in I Am Sam, and in 2009, Choi and Lee Byung-hun co-starred in the popular thriller K-drama Iris.

In 2010, Choi won two Best New Actor awards for his performance in the Korean War film 71: from Korea's prestigious Blue Dragon Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards.

His major credits since then include the 2013 action film Commitment, the 2014 crime film Tazza: The Hidden Card, and the 2015 romance drama The Secret Message. Season 2 of “Squid Game” will be Choi's first acting role since the 2017 Chinese film “Out of Control.

Che was born into an artistic family. His great-uncle was the famous Korean abstract painter Kim Wan-ki, whose work “Universe” became the first ever Korean painting to sell for over $10 million at auction in 2019.

Today, Choi is an avid art collector himself. He and his BIGBANG bandmate (and childhood friend) G-Dragon were included on ARTnews' list of “50 Art Collectors to Watch” in 2019. Choi also occasionally shares new art he acquires on his Instagram.

In addition to his taste for art, the actor is also an entrepreneur who owns the T'SPOT Wine brand. He was also slated to go to space as part of Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa's dearMoon private mission, but the project was canceled in June 2023.

Choi suspended his performing career in early 2017 as he began serving his mandatory military service as a drafted police officer. In June of the same year, he was accused of smoking marijuana. Marijuana is an illegal drug in South Korea that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Choi admitted to using marijuana four times, and the judge sentenced him to 10 months in prison, which was suspended for two years after the actor expressed regret for his actions and publicly apologized to his fans. Choi received a two-year suspended sentence and completed his military service as a public service officer in July 2019.

In an interview before the release of “Squid Game” Season 2, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk defended the casting of Choi Seung-hyun because he was a “necessary actor” for the show.

“In the case of Choi Seung-hyun, it took a lot of time when we decided to cast him. I thought that if the sentence had been handed down, the probation period was over, and time had passed, then maybe we should start doing this again.”

Fan added, “[Choi] made an effort and sent me acting videos, and when I was nervous during the reading, he validated me again, which showed his hard work and talent. I can't go into details about what kind of character it is, but it takes a lot of courage for Choi Seung-hyun to play this role. So I personally thought this actor was the best fit.”