Oct 23, 2026 3:19pm IST
Jung Ho-yeon Names ‘Dune’ Director Denis Villeneuve, ‘Digger’ Filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu As Makers On Her Wishlist: ‘I’m Fine To Retire After That’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Jung Ho-yeon names Denis Villeneuve and Alejandro González Iñárritu as two directors she hopes to work with, but her admiration for the latter comes with an emphatic declaration: one film with him might be enough to make her retire. In a conversation with Variety India, the “Squid Game” star opens up about the filmmakers who have shaped her cinematic ambitions, calling Iñárritu a “cinema god” after watching his latest film, “Digger,” and naming Villeneuve a longtime favorite.
Before looking toward Hollywood’s most celebrated auteurs, however, Ho-yeon speaks about Kim Jee-woon, a filmmaker she has already worked with. “For my next film, ‘The Hole’, I worked with director Kim Jee-woon.
He directed ‘I Saw the Devil,’ which is probably his most famous film with global audiences, along with ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’ and ‘A Tale of Two Sisters.’ He is truly a cinema master in our film history, so working with him is one thing I’ve already achieved,” Ho-yeon says. “The Hole” is based on the novel by South Korean author Pyun Hye-young.
Related Stories
Her director wishlist includes Denis Villeneuve, the filmmaker behind “Dune,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Ho-yeon traced her admiration for the director to “Incendies”, his 2010 drama that brought him international recognition and an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film. “I have been a massive fan of Denis Villeneuve for a very long time, ever since his movie ‘Incendies’. So yes, Denis Villeneuve is definitely at the top of my bucket list,” she says.
Alejandro González Iñárritu inspires her most animated response. Speaking about watching the filmmaker’s “Digger” starring Tom Cruise, Ho-yeon describes the theatrical experience in almost spiritual terms. “I watched ‘Digger,’ and it felt like my eyes and ears got clean. It’s such a magical experience to sit in the theatre and watch an Iñárritu film. It felt like a holy moment. To me, he is like a cinema god,” she said.
The director behind “Amores Perros”, “Babel”, “Birdman” and “The Revenant”, Iñárritu has earned a reputation for ambitious filmmaking that pushes the boundaries of form and storytelling. Ho-yeon adds, “Just watching his films is deeply meaningful, but if I ever get the chance to work with him, I’ll be like, ‘Okay, I’m fine to retire now. Bye, guys!’ So yes, he, too, is definitely on my bucket list.”
Ho-yeon became a global star with Netflix’s “Squid Game”, which introduced her to audiences well beyond South Korea. Since then, she has continued to pursue projects that expand her screen presence internationally.
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.