According to ScreenRant, Choi Seung-hyun (Out of Control) also known by his stage name T.O.P plays Thanos on the newest season of Netflix’s Squid Game breaks his silence on casting backlash. Due to his past Marijuana controversy, the actor was met with backlash when cast for the Netflix original. During the second season, the actor limited his involvement since many Korean audiences voiced their boycott against his casting.

When speaking with The Kora Times he spoke about his casting for the role as well as reflecting on his life since the scandal. He said, “The offer to play Thanos was a daunting proposition. The character mirrored my past, reflecting aspects I’d rather keep hidden. The fear of being pigeonholed into one role made me hesitate. But destiny seemed to be pulling me in this direction.”

He continued, “For almost 10 years, I felt no one looked at me, but director Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced) reached out to me first. The trust and the belief he had in me gave me the courage to take this on. As an actor, it is my duty to repay the trust. Excelling in my performance is another assignment in my life.”

As per ScreenRant, in the interview also addressed why he decided to return back to acting after being away for eight years due to the controversy. He spent his time focusing and working on his music which helped him cope during the time he was no longer in the public eye.

T.O.P said , “For the past seven years, I have lived almost isolated from society, spending most of my time at home and in my music studio. So I just kept working on music in the dark and the reason I did that was not for any other reason, but because music was the only place where I could breathe, when I was composing music and standing in front of the microphone. I think I made music to survive.”

He concluded, “My primary goal is to establish a stable and less dramatic life. I want to reach a point where I can wake up without being bombarded by negative news and feel more at peace.”

Squid Games is available to stream on Netflix.