The 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards announced its finalists on Tuesday, including Netflix’s hit survival drama, Squid Game. The series received 14 nominations, a first for a foreign-language drama.
The South Korean series became the first non-English language drama series to compete at the Emmys with nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Lee Jung-jae, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for O Yeong-su and Park Hae-soo, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for HoYeon Jung. Squid Game also earned nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.
“It’s not that my life has dramatically changed, but I’m feeling very excited and happy that Squid Game is receiving so much love and support and that so many more audiences now know who I am,” said Lee, who received an Emmy nomination for his role in Squid Game as Seong Gi-hun, in an interview with The New York Times.
The show will compete in the coveted Outstanding Drama Series category with other hit dramas such as Better Call Saul, Euphoria, Ozark, Severance, Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, and Succession, which led this year’s Emmy nominees with 25 total nominations.
Squid Game focuses on a contest where 456 players commonly facing deep financial struggles compete in playing life-threatening children’s games for a chance to win 45.6 billion KRW, garnering international praise and critical acclaim. It is currently the most-watched foreign language series and the most-watched series on Netflix, with 1.65 billion viewing hours during its first four weeks.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards will announce the winners on September 12 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.