'Squid Game' Star Lee Jung-jae Earned $253,000 Per Episode From Netflix Series

"Squid Game's" leading man, South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae, reportedly took home millions from starring in the global sensation and record-breaking Netflix hit.

Lee is said to have been paid 300 million won ($253,600) per episode of the first season of "Squid Game" to play down-on-his-luck gambling addict Seong Gi-hun, a.k.a. Player 456, according to South China Morning Post.

With nine episodes in the series' first run, the 48-year-old actor took home a $2.2 million paycheck for the show, putting him at fifth among the seven highest-paid TV stars in South Korea this year. Topping the list is Kim Soo-hyun, who reportedly took home $3.4 million for his latest TV show, "One Ordinary Day."

"Squid Game," which reportedly cost $21 million to produce, generated more than $900 million in value for Netflix, Bloomberg reported, citing internal documents.

Its creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, told The Guardian that he did not make a lot of money despite the success of the series and said Netflix paid him the amount that was indicated in the contract.

However, Netflix gave "Squid Game's" production crew and cast members one-time bonuses following the show's success, Bloomberg reported.

The amount, according to the report, was less than what the stars of HBO's "Succession" were paid for one episode. Some "Succession" actors were getting roughly $300,000 to $350,000 per episode for the third season, according to a 2020 report from The Hollywood Reporter, citing unnamed sources.

The Netflix business model differs from that of most movie and TV studios where actors and filmmakers receive a share of the proceeds from a movie or a TV show, Bloomberg noted.

Netflix reportedly assumes that the project will be a success and overpays upfront. The report also said that the easiest way for the streaming giant to reward filmmakers is by paying them more for subsequent seasons.

It was recently announced that "Squid Game" has been renewed by Netflix for a second season. With the next installment confirmed, the cast and crew of the hit series are up for a big raise, according to Bloomberg.

"Squid Game" became Netflix's most-watched show after hitting 111 million views less than a month after its premiere in September. The series follows a group of people, deeply in debt, who compete against each other in a series of deadly children's games to win a huge cash prize.

"Arcane," Netflix's "League of Legends" animated series, later dethroned "Squid Game" from the top of the streaming service's most-watched list in November.