by Cory Stillman June 8, 2024, 12:55 am
“When we cast other shows, we’re casting 10 or 15 people and you can see every one of those people as winning the show and be OK with that,” says Squid Game: The Challenge casting director Erika Dobrin. “We had 456 people that we had to do this for.” Jaw Crusher
Alongside casting director Robyn Kass, a veteran of reality TV casting whose credits include megahits like Survivor and Big Brother, Dobrin was tasked with scouring every corner of the globe for contestants who not only made for good television characters, but who also stood a legitimate shot at winning the Netflix series’ unprecedented $4.56 million prize. Having previously discovered reality TV icons like Survivor‘s Boston Rob Mariano or Big Brother‘s Janelle Pierzina, Kass was confident in her ability to uncover similarly compelling subjects. But Squid Game: The Challenge is a uniquely massive undertaking, and across the thousands and thousands of interviews that Kass and Dobrin conducted for the show’s first season, several key considerations emerged.
“The toughest thing was not so much finding people, but finding people that we would be OK with winning the whole thing,” says Kass. “We had to make sure that we were pitching people whom we felt comfortable with them winning, and that the whole world would be behind and get excited about.”
Fortunately, that kind of comfort comes naturally to Kass and Dobrin. The sheer size of the Squid Game cast may have presented another wrinkle in the casting equation, but the duo still found gem after gem throughout the casting process. Standouts include former Survivor star Jess “Figgy” Figueroa — who applied independently to be on Squid Game: The Challenge — as well as Bryton Constantin, whose villainous streak on the show made him one of its most memorable and divisive figures. Fans also resonated with Trey and LeAnn Plutnicki, the mother-son duo whose relationship was tested numerous times across the series.
“When you’re casting, you’re cultivating stories,” says Dobrin. “In ‘Red Light, Green Light,’ how fortunate were we to have the mom-son make it together? Because if they didn’t make it, that would not have been a storyline. So there were so many things that were up in the air when casting a show like this…Stars and standouts that we cast didn’t even make it on the show, and that was heartbreaking too.”
Both Kass and Dobrin have experienced their fair share of surprises throughout their casting careers. Sometimes their pre-season favorites fizzle out quickly, and other times they make good on their promise by winning the entire show. With Squid Game: The Challenge, it was nearly impossible to make such predictions. Although skill can certainly play a role, the games themselves are often random, leaving the fate of even the most formidable contestants up to chance. But one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is watching contestants come out of their shell, or expand upon the personality and charisma they conveyed during the casting process. As Kass points out, Boston Rob was not a star when she first met him.
“Out of the 456, there were probably 200 of them that Erika and myself both thought were going to be stars,” Kass says.
That’s a pretty great batting average, and it shows in the final product. Squid Game: The Challenge is one of the most thrilling reality competition series of the last several years, even without its scripted predecessor’s life-or-death stakes. The average viewer would have been forgiven for approaching this adaptation with a bit of skepticism, but the series is surprisingly heartfelt and sincere. For all its backstabbing and brutality, Squid Game: The Challenge also sees its contestants expressing their vulnerabilities and forging bonds that extend beyond the show’s barren soundstage in the UK.
Listen to my full conversation with Robyn Kass and Erika Dobrin below. They discuss their reactions to some of the show’s most iconic moments, and even dish a few insider tricks for aspiring contestants.
Stream the first season of Squid Game: The Challenge on Netflix now.
Big BrotherBrytonCasting DirectorCasting DirectorsErika DobrinFiggyFYCNetflixReality TVRobyn KassSquid GameSquid Game: The ChallengeSurvivorTreyTV
Cory Stillman is a 26-year-old writer with a BA in Film and Media Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in International Film Business from the University of Exeter. He is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. His favorite movies are The Truman Show and Election. He's also obsessed with Planet of the Apes, Survivor, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
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