The 15 Best Shows Featuring the 'Squid Game' Cast
If you can't get enough of Squid Game, try these K-dramas next.
The stellar cast of Squid Game is made up of a range of talented actors, from veterans to rising stars. In addition to being stars in Korea, they're now getting acclaim from America's biggest award shows, including five acting Emmy noms and Screen Actors Guild wins for Lee Jung-jae and HoYeon Jung. If you've finished the Netflix hit and are wondering what to watch after Squid Game, we have great news: Many of the cast's previous Korean dramas are currently available to stream. The below K-dramas include both some of the most successful series in Korean history, as well as underrated gems—and all of them feature at least one member of the acclaimed cast of Squid Game.
Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area (2022)
In this Korean reimagining of Netflix's international crime hit, Park Hae-soo plays the charming and unpredictable Berlin. Rather than being a jewel thief, this Berlin grew up in a North Korean concentration camp until he escaped and became the most wanted man in the country. He joins a team of thieves who take over the mint of a unified Korea to steal four trillion won (3 billion USD).
All of Us Are Dead (2022)
This new spin on Korea's zombie genre follows a group of high school students as they try to stay alive amid a zombie outbreak in their school. Lee Yoo-mi plays Na-yeon, a selfish rich kid who values her own survival over everyone else's. Watch this if you want to see the rising star playing the opposite of sweet Ji-yeong (240).
Chief of Staff (2019)
In this political series, Lee Jung-jae stars as Jang Tae-joon, the cold and calculating chief of staff for a lawmaker in Korea's national assembly. The two-season drama has been praised for its strong characters and its suspenseful storyline and political intrigue.
Prison Playbook (2017)
While chasing a man who tried to assault his sister, a famous baseball player named Kim Je Hyuk (Park Hae-soo) is arrested and sentenced to one year in prison. There he meets his childhood friend and fellow baseball player, Lee Joon Ho (Jung Kyung-ho), who now works as a guard and helps him adjust to life in jail. This drama was Park Hae-soo's first-ever lead role, which earned him a Best New Actor nomination at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)
This historical fantasy drama takes place across two timelines, in Korea's Joseon era and modern-day Seoul. A mermaid named Shim Chung (Jung Ji-hyun) falls in love with a nobleman’s son, Kim Ryung, and later his modern-day doppleganger, con artist Heo Joon-jae (Lee Min-ho). Park Hae-soo has a supporting role in this mythological series, as a government official in Joseon times and a modern-day detective investigating Joon-jae.
Beyond Evil (2021)
This psychological crime series follows two detectives (played by Shin Ha-kun and Yeo Jin-goo) who team up to track down a new serial killer, whose gruesome killings are oddly similar to some cold cases from 20 years prior. While investigating the killings in their quiet city, they're forced to question the culpability of all the town's residents, including their own. Heo Sung-tae plays another bad guy as Lee Chang-jin, the corrupt CEO of a construction company.
Strangers from Hell (2019)
In this ten-episode horror series, crime writer and new Seoul resident Yoon Jong-woo finds temporary housing at Eden Gosiwon, a cheap hostel with a shared kitchen and bathroom. After a series of mysterious events, Jong-woo begins to start fearing for his life among his new neighbors. Anupam Triathi has an uncredited role in this drama as Kumail, the previous tenant of Jong-woo's room who has mysteriously disappeared.
Romance is a Bonus Book (2019)
In this romantic drama, recently divorced single mother Kang Dan-i reunites with her childhood friend, successful author Cha Eun-ho. After he offers her a job at his publishing company, their lives become more entwined and they fall for each other. However, Eun-ho has some competition for Dan-i's heart from the show's second lead, a book designer played by Wi Ha-joon.
18 Again (2020)
Remember Zac Efron's hilarious 2009 comedy 17 Again? This drama's based on the film's premise, where a father in a struggling marriage magically transforms into his high-school-aged self. The now-younger Dae-young joins his kids' high school as a chance to re-do his entire life, but he's still drawn towards his family, including his estranged wife Da-jung. Wi Ha-joon plays a famous athlete who has romantic feelings for Da-jung.
Something in the Rain (2017)
Often called the best noona (older woman and younger man) k-drama, this romance follows Yoon Ji-ah (Crash Landing On You's Son Ye-jin), a 30-something woman who falls for her childhood friend's younger brother, Seo Joon-hee (Jung Hae-in), who reappears in her life. Wi Ha-joon plays a supporting role as Ji-ah's younger brother and Joon-hee's best friend, Yoon Seung-ho.
King Maker: The Change of Destiny (2020)
This Joseon Dynasty drama follows Choi Cheon Joong, Korea’s leading fortuneteller and face-reader, who takes it upon himself to replace the country's corrupt king and queen with a noble young prince and a humble commoner. He teams up with a fortune-telling princess named Hwang Bong-ryun (Go Sung-hee) to help the young couple take the throne. Kim Joo-ryung also has a minor role as a restaurant owner.
365: Repeat the Year (2020)
In this time travel drama, ten people given the chance to travel back one year to “reset” their lives. After their fates are twisted during the trip, mysterious events put the group in danger. Lee Yoo-mi plays Kim Se-rin, a college student with Munchausen syndrome who travels back in time to make up with her boyfriend.
Coffee Prince (2007)
Gong Yoo stars in this romantic comedy as Choi Han-gyul, a café owner who hires who hires a young tomboy named Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye) to pretend to be his male lover, so he won't have to go on blind dates arranged by his grandmother, head of the family coffee company. After his grandmother gives him an ultimatum over the business, he opens a café to prove that he's capable, and ensures its success by only hiring attractive men, including Eun-chan, who continues to hide her identity to make money.
Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (2016)
This fantasy drama, also called Goblin, stars Gong Yoo as Kim Shin, an immortal goblin who has lived for 900 years, and searches for a human wife who can end his life. He thinks he's found his bride in Ji Eun Tak, a high school student who can see the dead and has remained upbeat through tragic events. Things get complicated as they fall in love, in one of the most popular k-dramas ever made.
Mr. Sunshine (2018)
In this historical drama from the writers of Goblin, set in the Joseon era, a U.S. Marine officer (Lee Byung-hun) returns to Korea on a diplomatic mission, after leaving the country during the 1871 Shinmiyangyo (the first U.S. expedition to Korea). There he meets and falls in love with an aristocrat's daughter, Go Ae-shin (Kim Tae-ri), and their love is challenged by their different classes and Ae-shin's arranged marriage to a nobleman.
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