Choi Seung Hyun, popularly known as T.O.P from his former K-pop group, BIGBANG, just had his first series of interviews in 11 years. Fresh from his comeback by starring in the second season of Squid Game, the former idol reflected on his tumultuous career in the South Korean entertainment industry, baring "honest thoughts" to the public.
ICYMI, T.O.P's character in Squid Game 2 was named Thanos—a rapper who apparently had substance abuse problems, as shown in the series. In a group interview with Korean reporters, T.O.P admitted that portraying Thanos was both an "embarrassing" situation and also a turning point for him.
"If it hadn't been Thanos, I wouldn't have taken on the role. It was an extremely difficult decision for me, given my past mistakes. But Thanos was a character I had to confront head-on—not a righteous figure, but a stereotypically failed, pathetic hip-hop loser. That aspect gave me the courage to step forward," T.O.P underscored, as quoted from The Korea Herald's article.
T.O.P, now 37 years old (international age), has put into words how the experiences he had to overcome, especially in his 20s. "In my 20s, I made huge mistakes, and the dark times I faced then led me down a path I had never been on before. What followed was a truly hellish period of darkness, during which I became emotionally devastated. I experienced profound psychological deterioration and intense self-loathing," he said in his interview.
In 2017, the former idol faced drug charges after the revelation of his marijuana usage in South Korea. This led to his suspension from his mandatory military service, and most importantly, to his decision to leave BIGBANG. Though in February 2020, The Korea Times reported T.O.P declaring that he was not coming back to the entertainment industry at all—which was eventually debunked when the news of his acting comeback as a Squid Game 2 cast was announced.
Is T.O.P coming back to BIGBANG?
So, amid his controversial return to the limelight, the Internet's wondering if there's a possibility of him reuniting again with BIGBANG members. In case you didn't know, BIGBANG members G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung did a surprise performance during the MAMA Awards 2024 in Osaka, Japan.
T.O.P denied that there's a possibility of him reuniting with the members—and it's not because he didn't want to, but because he still feels guilty about everything.
"Regarding moving forward on my own, I felt that if I faced criticism and backlash, it was something I could endure alone. However, as long as I remained part of BIGBANG, the guilt could not be erased, and I believed I could no longer let the team suffer because of me," he told the Korean reporters.
He continued, "The reason I cannot return is, honestly, because I feel too ashamed to face the other members." Now, T.O.P proclaimed his goal in life: "a stable and less dramatic life," while being open to the possibility of releasing solo music in the future.
"For the past 10 years, I've only been going back and forth between my home and my music studio. The reason I stayed in the studio was that creating music was the only time I felt like I could escape the darkness...I made a lot of songs. There's no exact release plan yet, but I do have something in mind for the near future," his statement read according to The Korea Herald.
