Media School senior featured in Netflix series ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’
Media School student Jastin Nolan was a contestant on the reality competition series “Squid Game: The Challenge” released on Netflix on Nov. 22. The reality show is a spin-off of the fictional South Korean series “Squid Game,” released on Netflix in 2021. “Squid Game: The Challenge” features contestants competing in high-stakes children’s games featured in the original series for a cash prize of $4.56 million.
Nolan was cast on the show in early 2022 while studying abroad in Spain through the College of Arts and Sciences ASPIRE program. He then flew to London and began filming for the show earlier this year.
However, “Squid Game: The Challenge” wasn’t the first time Nolan had worked in the entertainment industry. Prior to being a contestant on the series, Nolan produced and starred in the film “SUNDAY*,” which premiered at the historic Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington in March.
“The movie is about a young man named Leo whose romantic endeavor fails, and then he gets into an accident and is separated from his friends,” Nolan explained. “It’s an action thriller, but the kicker is that it’s a world with no sun. We took inspiration from ‘Get Out’ and ‘Superbad.’”
Nolan also participated in the Semester in LA program his junior year. He was able to show “SUNDAY*” to director and screenwriter Tommy O’Haver who teaches a course in the program and is an IU alum.
“He said it was crazy, but he loved it. For him to say that about a movie we made for nothing was very inspiring,” said Nolan.
“Squid Game: The Challenge” featured 456 contestants and was the largest production Nolan had ever participated in. While Nolan doesn’t see himself being on reality television again, he is grateful for the experience.
“It was such a cool production. Very professional. As somebody who wants to be in the industry, it was really cool to get that insight, especially from such a big network,” said Nolan.
Nolan also reflected on how filming the series was one of the hardest things he’s ever done. While the challenges appear to last only five minutes in the episodes, filming would last hours. One of the most well-known games from the original series, “Red Light, Green Light,” took eight hours to film according to Nolan.
Nolan will be graduating from The Media School on Dec. 15 with a degree in media advertising. Nolan wants to continue working in the entertainment industry as an actor and filmmaker in LA or Atlanta.
Through his involvement in “Squid Game: The Challenge,” his participation in the Semester in LA program, and his film “SUNDAY*,” Nolan has been able to make meaningful connections in the entertainment industry that should take him far and help him achieve his goals.