Squid Game stars reveal emotional depths of mother-son betrayal in season 2

In a powerful scene from Squid Game season two, the intense family dynamics of betrayal and survival take center stage as a mother and son are forced into a deadly contest.

According to a report by Samaa News on Sunday, the heart-wrenching moment, where the son betrays his mother to save himself, has become a pivotal focus for the actors involved, Yang Dong-geun and Kang Ae-sim, who recently shared their experiences portraying this complex relationship.

 

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Yang Dong-geun, who plays Yong-sik (Player 007), spoke about the difficulty of performing such an emotionally charged scene, admitting the challenge of abandoning his on-screen mother for his own survival.

 

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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the 45-year-old actor revealed that he struggled to convey the intense emotions of betrayal, especially given the personal disconnect with his real-life mother.

 

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“I didn’t really know exactly what emotion I was supposed to express. We shot this scene over and over again, take after take,” Yang shared. He added that the difficulty was compounded by the fact that he doesn’t share a close relationship with his own mother. “My mom in reality is very ferocious and scary—we don’t have the type of relationship where we share our inner thoughts or feelings, so it was strange to have that on set and to act in a way that these two people have that relationship.”

Despite the emotional challenge, Yang embraced the role, reflecting on how different his on-screen reality was from his real-life situation.

Kang Ae-sim, who portrays Geum-ja (Player 149), also shared her take on the mother-son dynamic. Despite being betrayed by her son, her character does not feel resentment but instead prioritizes her child’s survival, highlighting the life-and-death stakes of the game.

“They are playing a game of life and death,” Kang explained. “Rather than feeling resentment over his betrayal, I think her focus really is that her son is alive. And because he is alive, the other things that occurred in the process of the game are less important.”