Hundreds entered, but only one can triumph: South Korea’s Squid Game will make a play for Emmys history Monday as it aims to become the first foreign-language television show to win top honors for best drama.
The Netflix show in which misfits and criminals compete for cash in barbaric and fatal versions of schoolyard games is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Oscar-winning movie Parasite with success at TV’s top prize gala.
It is already the first non-English-language series to earn the best drama series nomination. To convert that into a trophy at the ceremony in Los Angeles, it will need to overcome a previous winner in HBO’s Succession.
“It’s pretty hard to go against that HBO juggernaut,” said Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond, noting that the cutthroat drama about a powerful clan vying to inherit a media empire secured the most overall nominations with 25.
“I do think Squid Game is going to win the best actor,” said Hammond – an outcome that would make Lee Jung-jae the category’s first winner whose performance was not in English.
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Other shows contending for the night’s top drama prizes include Apple TV+ dystopian workplace series Severance, starring Adam Scott, and the final season of Netflix’s much-lauded crime saga Ozark.
Zendaya, who became the youngest-ever best actress winner two years ago for hard-hitting teen drama Euphoria, is tipped to repeat with her work on the show’s sophomore season.