Squid Game's Kim Joo Ryoung AKA Player 212 Got Her Start In Showbiz After Coming In 4th In A Beauty Pageant

Even if you don't have a Netflix account, you probably know of the wildly popular South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game.

In the drama, debt-ridden individuals risk their lives to take part in a series of deadly children's games for a huge cash prize. So intriguing and addictive is the show that fans have obsessed over every detail, like its creepy robot doll, the use of honeycomb candy, and of course, the cast.

Love her or hate her, Player 212 Han Mi Nyeo, played by 45-year-old actress Kim Joo Ryoung, has become one of the show's most memorable characters.

Cunning and manipulative, Mi Nyeo will do whatever it takes to survive, which usually involves attaching herself to whichever team seems to have the strongest players at any given moment.

And who can forget her character’s raunchy toilet sex scene with Squid Game villain Jang Deok Soo (Player 101), played by Heo Sung Tae.

Like her co-stars, Joo Ryoung has seen her popularity skyrocket. Her number of Instagram followers has surged 2,000 times after the show’s release and she now has an astonishing 1.3 million followers.

Even her character’s over-the-top expressions have been immortalised in memes, which Joo Ryoung has no qualms sharing on social media.

Joo Ryoung, who studied drama and film in South Korea’s Dongguk University, entered showbiz after finishing fourth in the 1999 Miss Chunhyang pageant.

The actress, who is married to a university professor, with whom she has a daughter, made her film debut in 2000 coming-of-age movie Plum Blossom, and went on to play supporting roles in several films and plays.

She is better known in the theatre circles and has even won the Outstanding Actress Award at the Incheon Theatre Festival.

It was only after her chilling role as an evil dormitory manager in 2011’s Silenced, also directed by Squid Game director Hwang Dong Hyuk, that her popularity began to grow.

She made her foray onto the small screen in 2017 and has since appeared in several popular TV series like Mr Sunshine, Sky Castle, and Doctor John.

She will also be in upcoming drama Sabotage City, which is scheduled to premiere in November, and thriller flick Taste of Horror – Rehabilitation, which comprises of 10 short films, each based on a Kakao Page webtoon.

Photos: Kim Joo Ryoung/Instagram