Anupam Tripathi (born 2 November 1988) is an Indian actor based in South Korea. He has appeared in various South Korean television series and films. His first main role as Ali Abdul in Netflix's South Korean survival drama series Squid Game (2021) garnered him worldwide recognition.
Anupam Tripathi | |
|---|---|
 Anupam Tripathi in September 2022 | |
| Born | 2 November 1988 New Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | Korea National University of Arts |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Korean stage name | |
| Hangul | 아누팜 트리파티 |
| Revised Romanization | Anupam teuripati |
| McCune–Reischauer | Anup'am t'ŭrip'at'i |
Early life
Tripathi was born in New Delhi on 2 November 1988.[1][2] He became interested in acting after playing a slave in a stage production of Spartacus. He was a part of the playwright Shahid Anwar's Behroop theater group from 2006 to 2010.[3]
Tripathi began training in singing and acting in 2006. He intended to attend the National School of Drama in New Delhi but moved to South Korea in 2010 to attend Korea National University of Arts on the Arts Major Asian scholarship. He has discussed the initial difficulty of adjusting to the cultural and language differences but then became fluent in Korean in less than two years.[2][3]
Career
Tripathi began acting in Korean plays and commercials during his third year of university.[4] His first feature film credit was as an unnamed Sri Lankan man in Ode to My Father (2014).[2] He had a minor role as a bomb expert fighting for Korean independence in the play 불량청년, which was selected for the 36th Seoul Theater Festival,[4] and had various minor unnamed roles in television series like Hospital Playlist (2020), Rain or Shine (2017), and films such as Space Sweepers (2021) and Asura: The City of Madness (2015).[5] Many of his roles relate to being a migrant worker in Korean society.[2]
Tripathi's first main cast credit was as the undocumented Pakistani worker Abdul Ali on the Netflix original series Squid Game (2021).[6][7] Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said that it was "hard to find good foreign actors in Korea" and that he cast Tripathi because of his emotional acting capabilities and fluency in Korean.[7] Following the series' international success, Tripathi's follower count on Instagram increased from 10,000 to over 2.5 million in a matter of days.[8][9]
Personal life
Tripathi is fluent in English, Hindi, and Korean.[3]
Tripathi finished his master's degree in acting at Korea National University of Arts in 2024.[2][3]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ode to My Father | Sri Lankan Tamil man | [2] | |
| 2015 | The Phone | Charles | [10] | |
| 2016 | Asura: The City of Madness | Indian worker | [11] | |
| Luck Key | Indian man | [11] | ||
| 2017 | Heart Blackened | Factory manager | [10] | |
| The Heartbeat Operator | Nepalese Chef | |||
| 2019 | Miss and Mrs. Cops | Saudi Arabian subordinate | ||
| 2021 | Space Sweepers | Sullivan's assistant | [2] | |
| The 8th Night | Preacher | Voice | [2] | |
| 2022 | Vanishing | Foreign broker | Special appearance | [12] |
| TBA | Changhon: Night of Salvation | Anuat | [13] |
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Hogu's Love | [4] | ||
| Let's Eat 2 | Indian restaurant waiter | Cameo (Episode 4) | [4] | |
| 2016 | Descendants of the Sun | Man that gives the shoe to Dr. Kang | Cameo (Episode 6–7) | [14] |
| The K2 | wounded man | Cameo (Episode 2) | ||
| 2017 | Just Between Lovers | Sook-hee's customer | ||
| Revolutionary Love | Worker looking for a job behind Byun Hyuk | Episode 5 | ||
| 2019 | Arthdal Chronicles | |||
| Strangers from Hell | Kumail | |||
| 2020 | Hospital Playlist | Foreign patient's co-worker | Cameo (Episode 4) | [2] |
| 2021 | Taxi Driver | Courier money deliverer | Cameo (Episode 9) | [2] |
| 2022 | Scammers | A voice phishing criminal disguised as a telemarketer from India. | podcast audio series | [15] |
| 2023 | King the Land | Prince Samir | Cameo (Episode 7–8) | [16] |
Web series
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Squid Game | Abdul Ali | [17][18] |
| 2022 | Narco-Saints | Surinamese Soldier | [19] |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | |||
| 2015 | Bad Boy | '불량청년' | Mazar | [4] |
Awards and accolades
| Year | Award | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Ali Abdul | As part of Squid Game ensemble | |
| 17th Seoul International Drama Awards | — | Asian Star Award (Korea) | [20] |
Ambassadorship
- Ambassador for the 1st Ulsan International Film Festival (2021)[21]
References
Further reading
- Hannah, Saab (6 October 2021). "Everything To Know About Squid Game's Anupam Tripathi: Age, Height, Relationship Status & More". ScreenRant. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
- Samad, Benazir (17 October 2021). "What 'Squid Game' gets right and wrong about Pakistani migrant workers". NPR. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
- Tusing, David (20 October 2021). "Who is Anupam Tripathi, the breakout Indian actor in 'Squid Game'?". The National. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
