Director Steven Spielberg of "West Side Story" recently commented on a PGA Awards panel, praising last year's popular series "Squid Game," saying that the show's success made it easier for projects to recruit unknown performers and still achieve tremendous success. "A long time ago, domestic stars were what attracted the public into movies," the director said, adding, "now, it's amazing, unknown people [who] can star in complete miniseries, can be in movies."

"'Squid Game' comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us," Steven Spielberg said, thanking Ted Sarandos, Netflix's co-CEO and Chief Content Officer. The director also spoke on the series' huge success despite the absence of any American stars, and expressed hope that this would allow filmmakers to be more creative with their casting choices in the future.

The director's choice of words, however, elicited conflicting reactions, with some internet users dismissing Steven Spielberg's remarks as condescending and dismissive. Because 'Squid Game' lead Lee Jung Jae is an experienced actor and public figure with a successful career spanning decades, and fellow actress Jung Ho Yeon was already a well-known model, the director's remarks elicited responses like "Unknown? In Korea, they're celebrities. "It's not all about American actors."

Meanwhile, several internet users claimed that the director's words had been misconstrued, believing that Steven Spielberg was referring to actors who were unfamiliar to western audiences.

With over 1.2 billion viewing hours registered in its first month, 'Squid Game' became Netflix's most-watched series. Following this, Netflix dramatically boosted its investment in South Korean original content.