How to Get Cast in 'Squid Game: The Challenge'

The Big Picture

• Collider's Perri Nemiroff chats with Squid Game: The Challenge casting directors Robyn Kass and Erika Dobrin.
• The two discuss how they became reality TV casting directors and explain why Squid Game: The Challenge was a one-of-a-kind casting experience.
• Kass and Dobrin also offer up some tips for those looking to audition for Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2.

Most reality TV competition shows require casting teams to track down a small group of competitors with the potential to become stars. Squid Game: The Challenge, however, is a whole different beast. Just like the award-winning drama series, Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game, The Challenge needs a grand total of 456 players, and every single one of them needs to be a compelling player and a worthy winner. How exactly does one go about finding a whopping 456 reality TV stars that’d inspire viewers to get behind them over the course of the show’s run? That’s on casting directors Erika Dobrin and Robyn Kass.

Dobrin and Kass are both hugely accomplished reality television casting directors. Kass has worked on Big Brother for 13 seasons and also specializes in dating series, while Dobrin’s credits include The Biggest Loser, Dating #NoFilter, and many more. While all that experience likely comes in handy, Squid Game: The Challenge demanded a very different approach to the work. Upholding the blueprint of the drama series, The Challenge starts with 456 players. Those players must power through a series of games inspired by childhood classics, like “Red Light, Green Light” and a version of Battleship. Every time a contestant is eliminated, $10,000 is added to the jackpot until, ultimately, two finalists are vying for a grand total of $4.56 million. Day one, everyone has a shot, and that means Dobrin and Kass must cast every single individual with confidence that, should they get the most screen time and make it to the end, they'll strike the necessary chord to keep viewers engaged and invested.

With Squid Game: The Challenge looking to be a strong contender this Emmy season, Dobrin and Kass took the time to join me for an extended chat covering the challenges of casting a first season of a reality TV show, what made the Squid Game casting process unique, and what tips they’d offer folks eager to snag one of 456 spots on the Season 2 roster.

Everything You Need to Know About ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Casting

The big, burning question Kass and Dobrin were asked most often during the Squid Game: The Challenge casting process? As Dobrin put it, “The first thing that we always got asked is, ‘Are we gonna get killed?’” In the drama series, yes, a player puts their life on the line for a chance to win the $4.56 million. The reality show, however, mimics that aspect of the story by setting off a squib every time a player is eliminated from the competition.

So yes, Kass and Dobrin were able to look to the drama series as a blueprint for what they’d have to accomplish with The Challenge, but like many shows in their first season, development was ongoing during the casting process. Dobrin explained, “We all knew the show and we all loved the show, but again, the show was a scripted show that was intense and amazing and all of the things, but for us, for an unscripted competition show, it is a first-season show.” She added, "As much as we know of the scripted show, we don't know the show."

Kass continued by offering insight into how much confirmed information they had to work with during the casting process:

“Usually when casting starts on any first-season show, development is still happening. They're still figuring things out, so directions change a lot for us, casting changes a lot, what they're looking for changes a lot, the show changes a lot. On a variety of shows, sometimes we'll see the show afterward and be like, ‘Hm, that's kind of a different show than I thought it was gonna be.’ I think Squid Game is very true to the scripted version, which is something I loved about it, but we didn't know exactly what they were going to do. We didn't know exactly how dangerous it was going to be. I know some people think we're hiding secrets from them, and it's not true. They were still figuring it out. They were still building sets, they were still wondering what was gonna make people win and lose. So, we give a very broad range of things that could happen, but we have to keep a lot of people in the dark, really for any sort of competition show. We can't give any secrets away even if we know them. For this one, we didn't know!”

'Squid Game: The Challenge' Trailer Promises Heavy Competition

The game show boasts the largest cash prize in the history of reality competition.

While Kass and Dobrin had to remain flexible as the show came together in the development stages, they were able to hold tight to one particular casting rule, a rule that I think heavily contributed to making Squid Game: The Challenge such a standout; anyone could be a contestant as long as they had a great story and were deserving. Here’s how Kass explained it:

“It’s interesting because I feel like the majority of shows we do, we do have those parameters. I think something that both of us love about this show is that it was parameter-free. Anybody can get on the show. As long as you are of age, anything else goes. There was really nothing holding people back. So I think both of us were able to talk to, interview, meet people maybe we wouldn't normally meet on other shows because they might have more strict parameters. This was like, ‘Listen, if they have a great story and they are deserving, you put them on .’ That's it. That was what we were looking for.”

The Squid Game: The Challenge casting process was, essentially, guided by the best compass. As Kass put it, “We wanted to make sure that any of those 400-plus people, any one of those people, could win, and we would be proud, and we could stand behind them.”

The Dos and Don’ts of Auditioning for ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’

10 'Squid Game: The Challenge' Players Who Deserve Another Chance

These 10 players deserve another shot at the prize.

It’s clear that Squid Game: The Challenge amassed quite a fanbase. Not only did it accumulate over 224 million hours watched in its first 21 days of release, but many of the contestants went on to gain significant social media followings during the show’s run. Did you fall hard for Squid Game: The Challenge Season 1 yourself? Did it leave you itching for more of the show? Or, to take it a step further, did it leave you itching to compete? You’re in luck because Season 2 is currently casting, and we’ve got some tips for you straight from the folks in charge of the process.

Dobrin began by pinpointing a top priority, “Be yourself.” She continued:

“Come to the table prepared with what your story is. That's the hardest part. I don't think people know what their story is. Five facts about yourself that make you different than somebody else, or something that makes you special, something that makes you stand out. Come enthusiastic but not so over-the-top that you're unbelievable. Again, like Robyn said, a show like this is all-encompassing. We just wanna make sure you're above the age that we can put you on, and then go. There was no age limit, which made it amazing. Again, everybody. So, just be your authentic self, have fun, and know what your story is and what you want to get out of this experience.”

‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Season 2 Will Be Different

So let’s say you take Dobrin’s advice. You come to the Squid Game: The Challenge casting process prepared with your story, and things work out. Don’t expect to walk onto the show and lean on your knowledge of Season 1 to snag that $4.56 million prize. While discussing lessons learned from Season 1 that are impacting the casting process on Season 2, Dobrin teased that Season 2 will be different:

“Casting a Season 1 show on any realm is the hardest thing because, again, nobody knows what it's gonna be, and a lot of things change and everything. Season 2 of Squid Game is gonna be different. We don't know what Season 2 of the scripted show is. It's gonna be all new games, it's gonna be all new types of playing. So, we don't know any of that.”

Yet again, Dobrin and Kass must stay on their toes and be ready to adapt based on how the show evolves. But, Dobrin insisted that there’s one particular thing that makes their work on Season 2 far easier. It's the response to Season 1. She explained:

“The easier thing is, people watched the show and saw the integrity of it and saw how amazing it was and saw how they were taken care of. There were a lot of things. So, they're gonna come into it knowing they're not gonna get shot, and there's a chance for them to win! You know what I mean? There's a chance for any single person to win , so I think that's gonna make our job a lot easier the second time around. A second season is always a dream.”

Eager to hear even more about the casting process on Squid Game: The Challenge and what it’s like working as a casting director in the reality TV space? Be sure to catch my full conversation with Kass and Dobrin in the video at the top of this article.

Squid Game: The Challenge

Follows contestants as they compete in challenges based on the Korean children's games featured on the Squid Game to win a $4.56 million cash prize.

Squid Game: The Challenge Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.

Watch on Netflix

ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwLLByJ1koJmdmnq1tMRmmqGZnKGyr7PEZpqaq6Seu6h7