Thanks to the accessibility of Netflix, a series like Squid Game, which would have never seen Western shores 20 years ago, can capture the hearts of viewers around the globe — and then put those hearts in their throats.
But an international show striking it big has elevated the “subs or dubs” debate to new heights. Despite the streamer’s best efforts, there’s still a significant difference between watching the show in the original Korean with English subtitles, and watching it with dubbed English voices. To complicate matters further, one of the actors from the divisive third and final season just revealed that even sticking with the “original” audio has led viewers to watch dubs without realizing it.
One of the most mysterious elements of Squid Game are the VIPs, the ultra-rich elite who watch the games as spectators and bet on their favorite players. We don’t know much about them; like the Front Man, they hide behind masks. But Bryan Bucco, the actor behind the long-haired American VIP in the eagle mask, revealed there’s more being kept from viewers than just their faces.
On TikTok, a video by a Squid Game fan mocking the VIPs’ stilted acting became so popular that Bucco saw it and commented that the voice isn’t his. For what are probably technical or contractual reasons related to the dubbing process, the English words of Bucco and other VIP actors were dubbed over by... different English actors. It’s noticeable if you watch the characters’ lips, as their movements don’t really match the dialogue.
Bucco says his replacement actor did “fine” with what he was given and doesn’t think highly of his own performance either, likening it to “the difference between a piece of stale bread, or eating a piece of stale bread with a bit of butter on it.” And when fans argued that the introduction of the VIPs as Pink Guards didn’t serve the story, he agreed, saying, “They didn’t further the story or complement it well.”
Sure, we’re meant to dislike the VIPs, as they exist to emphasize the Games’ cruelty. But villains can be well-crafted and acted, or they can be just kind of... there. Unfortunately, the latter is true for these goofy antagonists, and now we know the problem extends to literally every word they said.
