Almost a decade after being put on probation because of a marijuana use scandal in 2017, K-Pop star Choi Seung-Hyun (Commitment, Out Of Control), stage name being T.O.P. and ex-member of popular Korean boy group BigBang, has returned to acting in the newest season of the famous Netflix K-Drama Squid Game. In an interview with People, Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced, Miss Granny) praised Seung-Hyun for his acting performance in the series, Deadline reports.

The BigBang alum, according to Deadline, was previously blackmailed from Korean entertainment because of him pleading guilty to a 2017 scandal for marijuana usage. That was and still is forbidden in Korea, as it is considered a crime punishable by the law.

“As you may know, the actor Seung-hyun, about nine years ago got involved in a marijuana scandal in Korea and wasn’t able to do any projects for the past nine years in Korea,” Dong-hyuk explained via Deadline.“And so this is a comeback after quite a long hiatus, and particularly because he portrays a character that’s a rapper and also someone who is on drugs.”

According to Deadline, in the second season of Squid Game, T.O.P.’s character is a disgraced rapper, named Thanos, also known as Player 230, who resorts to shady and life-risking tactics to win the game, while actually being on drugs the entire time.

“I feel that it took him a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too,” Dong-hyuk added via Deadline. “So I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.

“Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character,” the director concluded via Deadline.

According to Deadline, after the indictment to T.O.P. for marijuana usage in 2017. Seung-Hyun overdosed on tranquilizers and was immediately rushed from the military base to the hospital (he was serving military at the time, as is required for any man in Korea after the age of 30, even entertainment stars). “I would like to apologize for all the disappointment caused by my wrongdoing,” the actor and rapper said in a statement at the time via Deadline. “I’m too ashamed of myself to even stand in front of people and apologize face to face.”

The two seasons of Squid Game are now available to stream on Netflix.