'Squid Game' lands its 1st awards at early Emmys
A scene of South Korea's "Squid Game," season one. (AFP photo/courtesy of Netflix)


The South Korean global megahit "Squid Game" received an acting honor and three other trophies at Sunday's Emmy Awards, which was a run-up to next week's major event for television's best drama.

Lee You-mi won the accolade for guest drama actress at the Creative Arts Emmys for playing Ji Young, a young woman forced to compete in a risky quest for riches after she is freed from prison in the dystopian Netflix Inc. series.

The actress accepted the accolade onstage at a theater in downtown Los Angeles, speaking a few sentences in Korean before yelling in English: "I'm so very happy!"

Lee You-mi (L) and a translator walking backstage after she wins the Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for the "Gganbu" episode of "Squid Game" on the 2nd night of the Television Academy's 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Los Angeles, U.S., Sept. 4, 2022. (AP Photo)
Gim En-jee poses in the press room with the award for outstanding production design for a narrative contemporary program for "Squid Game" at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Los Angeles, U.S. (AP Photo)

The Creative Arts Emmys honored behind-the-scenes artists such as sound engineers, hair stylists and cinematographers, as well as guest actors.

Lead actor and other awards will be handed out at a televised red-carpet event on Sept. 12. "Squid Game" will compete for the top drama honor, the first non-English language series to be nominated for that prize.

Rivals for the award include Netflix's "Stranger Things," which earned five Creative Arts awards, including music supervision, for a season that featured Kate Bush's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill." Inclusion in the series sent the song to the top of the music charts.

HBO's media dynasty drama "Succession," also in the hunt for best drama, secured one award on Sunday, for casting.