Spoiler alert! Here's the huge Australian A-lister that appears in the Squid Game finale
****Spoilers for the new season of Squid Game follow****
The season finale of Squid Game season 3 features the cameo of a huge Australian Hollywood star.
The one and only Cate Blanchett makes a surprise appearance in the final scene of the hit Korean thriller as a recruiter for the deadly competition.
Picking up in the wake of a failed revolution, the final season of the Asian version of the hugely popular show follows the struggle between Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who's determined to take down the games once and for all, and Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who desperately wants to break Gi-hun's faith in humanity.
In the final scene of the show, Front Man finds himself in a car in Downtown Los Angeles, and while stopped at a light, he hears some familiar sounds: the thwap of two ddakji tiles hitting the ground followed by the sharp crack of a slap across the face. Front Man rolls down his window and sees a suited Blanchett playing ddakji with a seemingly desperate man in an alleyway. Blanchett looks up and exchanges a knowing glance with Front Man, who pulls away as Blanchett's attention returns to her new recruit.
'We thought having a woman as a recruiter would be more dramatic and intriguing,' said Squid Game Director Hwang Dong-hyuk.
'And as for why Cate Blanchett, she's just the best, with unmatched charisma. Who doesn't love her? So we were very happy to have her appear. We needed someone who could dominate the screen with just one or two words, which is exactly what she did,' he continued.
'If Gong Yoo is the Korean Recruiter, I thought she would be the perfect fit as the American Recruiter, bringing a short but gripping and impactful ending to the story.'
He went on to reveal that Blanchett had very limited time to film the cameo, so much so that she shot the entire thing in one take.
'During the shoot, she reminded me of what true talent looks like. Even with just a few looks and lines, her performance was mesmerising,' he shared. 'She was amazing at playing ddakji. I believe she successfully flipped the ddakji with her first try, and we were able to get that one long take right away.'
But what exactly does Blanchett's cameo mean for the future of the show? Quite a bit, it turns out, considering where Netflix plans on taking the franchise next.
Season 3 is the last for the Asian version of Squid Game, but it's far from over. An English-language spin-off is being developed by director David Finch, who has previously worked with Blanchett on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Blanchett's appearance raises numerous questions, however, like have the Games always had international counterparts or have they been forced to move them after they were nearly discovered by authorities at the end of the final season?
Netflix.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
The Sell: Dina Broadhurst and Max Shepherd sell Darling Point apartment pre-auction
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News. Given the couple's propensity for their Instagrammable lives to be also regularly snapped by the paparazzi, the recent on-again/off-again listing of the Darling Point apartment co-owned by nude artist Dina Broadhurst and her ex-partner, builder Max Shepherd, kept gossip column readers riveted for months until its recent sale. The price guidance for the Etham Ave garden apartment sat at $11.5m for its abandoned December auction, and by the time of its rescheduled June auction, had dropped to $8.4m. It apparently fetched $8m in its undisclosed pre-auction negotiations this month. Dina Broadhurst and Max Shepherd have sold their Darling Point apartment pre-auction. Picture: The duplex apartment has 280sq m of indoor-outdoor living space. Picture: There has been a continuing backdrop of intricate financing of their renovation project after kicking off with a standard NAB mortgage. The duplex apartment, with 280sq m of indoor-outdoor living space, had cost $5.2m unrenovated in 2022, which was followed by a 'Cinderella transformation' by emerging interior designer, Josh Knight from Glebe. 'No expense was spared to deliver a home of high-end luxury showcasing bespoke design by Studiojos,' its marketing advised. Though the couple had split by mid-2023 after 4½ years together, NSW Land Registry documents indicate that about April 2024, the duo secured second mortgage funding from Greg Reed's Benchmark Property Finance. Dina Broadhurst and ex Max Shepherd. Picture: AAP/Flavio Brancaleone The extra $500,000 finance was obtained at 24 per cent for nine months to a total 70 per cent loan to value ratio. By last September, it sat at $1.16m with the funding agreement specifying the apartment needed to be listed for sale within five months with a 'reputable agent'. By February this year, the loan expiry date had been extended to August. It has also emerged that veteran Sydney businessman Basil Sellers had separately lent Shepherd $260,000 in 2022, with the amount owing at $358,000 last month. Shepherd moved on and stepped out with his Vanderpump Rules star girlfriend Vail Bloom, while Broadhurst remains devoted to her 365,000-strong Instagram following and her risqué self-portraits. One of her artworks has just been installed in the conference room of Ray White Touma Taylor in Redfern. APARTMENT PLAYED ITS PART Actor Belinda McClory has sold her Potts Point investment apartment through local agent Nuri Shik. Set on the fifth level of the 1920s Wintergarden complex, the 73sq m apartment fetched $1.07 million shortly after being passed in at $1.01 million. It was bought by Panayota Theodore from Panayoyo Studio. Shik last sold the apartment in 2000 for $230,000, shortly after McClory had appeared in the first Matrix film in 1999. SWAN FLIES TO KEEP RARE AIR Former Sydney Swans chairman Peter Weinert has spent $14.8 million to protect his hillside Rose Bay harbour views. He has bought the stratum air rights above the neighbouring four-storey development of Ron Shulkin's RNB Property Group, which bought the New South Head Rd cottage site for $16.7 million in 2023. Under new zoning laws, six storeys are now possible, or even eight with affordable housing. SONG CHANGES WITH A NEW ERA The three-bedroom, two-bathroom Elizabeth Bay harbourfront home of the late EMI music executive Ken East and his widow Dolly, who died last August, has fetched $5.475 million. The 1929 Spanish Mission Beverley Hall complex had traded at $680,000 in 1987. On his 2007 death, singing legend Elton John described Ken as 'one of the greatest record men I have ever met'. Got a property news tip? Email
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair asks you 'Pay Attention'
In the heart of Cairns' Botanic Gardens, where World War II oil tanks rise amid lush rainforest, the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CAIF) returns to its birthplace this July with the powerful theme Pay Attention. CIAF curator Bruce Johnson McLean explains why this year's fair feels like a homecoming and how artist Tony Albert has shaped his curatorial vision. Then Juanita Page, a proud Goreng Goreng and South Sea Islander woman breaking barriers in Australian menswear demonstrates why she embodies this year's NAIDOC Week theme: The Next Generation. Plus for Word Up, Stuart Joel Nugget returns to share the Jingili word for "old man." For more information on the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair CIAF click here.
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Tulloch Lodge import Elamaz leaves bookies reeling
Elamaz landed a sizeable betting plunge to give trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott a stable-best season of stakes wins and provide jockey Josh Parr with the third leg of a winning treble at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. The former French galloper was backed from $4.60 earlier in the week into $2.15 favouritism and made all from the front to win at his Australian debut in the Listed $200,000 WJ McKell Cup (2000m). Although Elamaz's winning margin was only slender – he had a short head to spare from the fast finishing Belvedere Boys – the five-year-old gelding created a big impression with his rider. 'I am quite taken by him,'' Parr said. 'His demeanour was good, his action remarkable. 'The interesting part of it all is I wanted to be as kind as possible to him so he could get the 2000m first time on dry ground. 'Our plan wasn't to lead, we were looking for cover but cover wasn't going to eventuate so I pressed on to the front, trusted the stable and how well they had him, and he did the rest. 'There was a period down the side where he had no clue where he was leading the race at Rosehill but he fought off every challenger. What a brilliant performance by him,'' Elamaz improved his race record to five wins and three seconds from just eight starts when he held off Belvedere Boys ($6.50) to score an exciting win with Glory Daze ($5.50) one-and-a-half lengths away third. First Australian win, and what a way to do it! 🇦🇰 Elamaz hangs on in a McKell Cup thriller! 🥳ðŸ�† That's three winners to @JoshuaParr8 at Rosehill today! @GaiWaterhouse1 @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 28, 2025 Waterhouse prepared her sixth win in the McKell Cup after previous successes with Grand Connection (1995), We're Dancing (2002), Ecuador (2016), Hush Writer (2019) and Zoumon (2023). Elamaz gave Bott his third winner in the race since forming a training partnership with the Hall of Famer nearly a decade ago. The boom French import's win also provided Waterhouse and Bott with their 36th Group or Listed win for the 2024-25 season, a career-best for the training partnership. Elamaz is raced in similar interests to stablemate Eliyass, who also came from France with a record of six wins and two second placings from eight starts before he won the Lord Mayor's Cup over the Rosehill 2000m course at his Australian debut 12 months ago. Eliyass trained on to win the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes defeating Ceolwulf then ran third to champion mare Via Sistina in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes. There are obvious similarities between Eliyass and new stable recruit Elamaz which had not raced beyond 1600m in France before winning the McKell Cup first-up at 2000m. Bott was interstate and Waterhouse overseas but their stable representative, Neil Paine, said the trainers have a very high opinion of Elamaz. 'Elamaz is an excellent horse. We were confident he would win today, albeit he fell in,'' Paine said. 'We actually didn't think he would lead. Josh was given open instructions by Gai and Adrian, so it's good the horse has another string to his bow that he can lead, he can run 2000m and he can win on a firm track. They are all plusses. 'And what can you say about Gai and Adrian, they do it all the time with these horses from overseas. We seem to have luck with them first-up. 'Sir Delius won first-up, so did Eliyass last year. Gai and Adrian bought four at the Goffs Sale recently and they have all gone to our owners. We love them.' Paine said Elamaz is obviously extremely versatile and could be aimed at either the Epsom Handicap (1600m) or The Metropolitan (2400m) in the spring. 'They were 'umming and ahhing' what to do after this, whether to give him a bit of a break and bring him back (for the spring),'' Paine said. 'If he had of got beaten he probably would have had another run because our aim was to get him up in the ratings for the better races. 'But now that he has won this race that will help him get his rating up so Gai and Adrian will talk about what to do with him. A hard mile might be his go but who knows, he's a very nice horse.'' Elamaz also provided Parr with his third win of the day after the jockey won earlier on Rolling Magic and Thunderlips. 'I have been going to Brisbane and it has been a whitewash to be honest. I had a bit of luck early with Bosustow and then it was downhill from there,'' Parr said. 'It just slowed my momentum up so I was really happy to take a good book of rides here today and they have turned up and delivered for me.''
