Carlo Aquino missed his chance to play Ali in the Netflix series ‘Squid Game,’ because of the travel restrictions set by the pandemic.
“Hinayang na hinayang talaga ako. Siyempre trending ‘yung ‘Squid Game.’ At saka ang galing na makagawa ka ng istorya na nasa isang malaking-malaking warehouse lang ‘yung shoot pero sobrang engaging nung series,”
Aquino was extremely disappointed he could not fly to South Korea to do the project.
He revealed they cast him to portray the character of Abdul Ali, a migrant worker from Pakistan, who was forced to join the survival games to support his wife and child after his Korean employer refused to give their months’ worth of salary.
Anupam Tripathi took over the role of Ali when Aquino could not proceed with the project.
“Yung script dinelete ko na. ‘Yung parts kasi ni Ali ‘yung sinend sakin. Kasi nga masama loob ko, pandemic, ganyan. Bwisit na ‘to, di natuloy,” Aquino shared his frustrations over the pandemic travel restrictions.
“Kaya ‘di siguro ako natuloy kasi nagkaroon ng lockdown sa Korea at ayaw nila magpapasok. ‘Yung mga available artists na nandon sa Korea ‘yung pinili nila,”
He explained that Korea imposed a lockdown and did not allow foreigners to enter the country, making the producers cast the artists in their vicinity.
In June 2020, Aquino posted a handwritten note from Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game’s series director, offering him a role in the project.
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“A handwritten note from a brilliant director. Woop!! Couldn’t be more excited to work with you guys once this pandemic is over. #HwangDongHyuk,” Aquino captioned.
