The 1970s was a time of upheaval in cinema and television, when the typical methods of film production by major studios were being subverted. As society started to change, emboldened by social movements brought on by Civil Rights, movies started to reflect what young audiences wanted to see; gritty and unpolished. Squid Game, with its nihilistic premise about desperate people competing in deadly games for money, would have been eagerly watched, especially with how popular science fiction and dystopian genres had become.
Rough-around-the-edges actors like Jack Nicholson and Charles Bronson would have found meaty roles to suit their acting styles, while actors like Sidney Poitier and action stars like Bruce Lee would have found room and breadth to grow into more complex roles. It was a time of great diversity, and the talent that would have been in Squid Game in the '70s would have reflected that.
Seong Gi-Hun - Jack Nicholson
Known for playing scallywags and charming rogues in '70s classics like Five Easy Pieces and Chinatown, Jack Nicholson was also at home playing relatable rogues that try to buck the system like Randle McMurphy, one of his best roles to date in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest cemented Nicholson's ability to play a lowlife everyman whose initial desire to take advantage of the mental health facility he hides out in to escape a prison sentence ends up unlocking his empathy with his fellow humans, not unlike Seong Gi-hun once he starts winning challenges in the games and seeing the good — and bad — that desperate people are capable of.
Cho Sang-Woo - Sidney Poitier
The '70s saw Sidney Poitier make some of his best movies, easily vacillating between cool guy action-oriented parts like Detective Virgil Tibbs in They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!, and romantic leads in moving dramas like A Warm December, always evoking understated equipoise between dynamic and charming.
With his practiced manners and calm demeanor, Poitier would be perfect as the calculating and studious Cho Sang-woo, Gi-hun's childhood friend who becomes a much more aggressive player as the games go on. Poitier's dramatic theatre background would certainly guarantee the emotional payoff of the final episodes when Sang-woo reveals his true colors.
Kang Sae-Byeok - Cher
Famous singer-songwriter Cher made her cinematic debut in the '70s, launching a career of powerful roles that would prove she was much more than a pretty face and a beautiful voice. In Chastity, Cher plays the title role of a lonely, cynical young woman who travels across the country to find herself, having life-changing experiences along the way.
Like Kang Sae-byeok, the disillusioned North Korean defector in Squid Game, Chastity learns to trust others once she touches on the compassion and empathy inherent to herself. Like Sae-byeok, she steals money and runs from place to place until she finally finds where she belongs.
Oh Il-Nam - Keye Luke
For the part of physically weak but mentally wily Oh Il-nam, veteran screen actor Keye Luke, famous for appearing as "No. 1 Son" in the Charlie Chan detective movies, would convey the impish intelligence as well as the thought-provoking sagacity necessary for the role of the games' eldest player.
In the '70s, Luke played David Carradine's Confucious-spouting martial arts mentor in the popular series Kung Fu, an amalgamation of East meets West that launched Carradine's career and reminded fans of Luke's inimitable screen presence.
Ji-Yeong - Sally Field
Sally Field got her big break in the '70s after several years appearing on the popular series The Flying Nun, and became known for her unbridled optimism in movies like Norma Rae. Like Ji-yeong, she's small in stature but tough in spirit, often playing characters that challenge people's perceptions of her.
With her perky brand of pessimism, Ji-yeong turned out to be a much more caring person underneath her edgy persona, and a young Sally Fields would have been able to capture that innocence beneath the surface.
Jang Deok-Su - Charles Bronson
In the '70s there was scarcely another actor who emanated the brooding strength and toughness of Charles Bronson, in roles that often simmered with a steadfast resentment, not unlike Jang Deok-su, the street thug who tried to rise above his boss but was forced to join the games instead after a job gone wrong.
In movies like Chino, Hard Times, and gritty vigilante thrillers like Death Wish, Bronson was either a criminal or a cop that might as well have been one. He played characters who operated on their own moral code and often behaved in unstable and unexpected ways, not unlike the supremely violent Deok-su.
Han Mi-Nyeo - Nancy Kwan
While Nancy Kwan rose to prominence in the '60s for The Flower Drum Song, it was her grindhouse movies in the '70s that helped her break through to American audiences in parts written for Asian actresses. In movies like Wonder Women, where she played a doctor mutilating human bodies, she eroded the stereotype of being delicate and fragile.
Kwan would be able to embody Mi-nyeo's strength and tenacity, in a role that would echo her performances in Fortress in the Sun and even the psychological survival thriller Night Creature.
Hwang Jun-Ho - Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was one of the most prominent Asian actors in the '70s, and while he only made a handful of movies, his global influence can't be understated. For one of the more action-oriented parts in Squid Game, police officer Hwang Jun-ho, Lee would have the right amount of boldness and effrontery to infiltrate the games in search of his missing older brother.
With movies like Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon, he became one of the most beloved action movie stars, and would no doubt have risen to great heights in the '80s had he not died at the young age of just 32.
The Front Man - Yul Brynner
For the part of the mysterious game warden known as the Front Man, few actors in the '70s exhibited the gravitas and icy calm of Yul Brynner, who had transitioned into making sci-fi and speculative fiction movies from the melodramatic parts that won him Academy Awards.
In Westworld, he played an unstoppable android (and incidentally, the archetype for the Terminator), and in Ultimate Warrior, he became a knife fighter trying to survive in post-apocalyptic New York in 2012. Both roles point to the sort of actor who would embody a man who triumphed in the games and then returned to ensure they were played fairly.