Growing up in Kenilworth, Allie Hartman loved watching various reality television programs with her mother.

“It was definitely our guilty pleasure,” Hartman remembered. “I never thought I would be on a show. I’ve just always been a fan.”

That all changed last year when Hartman, 26, who now lives in New York, was cast in “Squid Game: The Challenge,” the popular Netflix reality series based on a South Korean drama.

Hartman, a member of the New Trier High School Class of 2016, applied to be a cast member in the summer of 2022 after a Squid Game casting director noticed her social media video.

Soon she received an initial set of questions asking about what she would do with the $4.56 million cash prize if she won as well as queries about her interests and background. By November 2022, there was a video interview and around Christmas Hartman was informed that she would be part of the cast.

“I was very surprised,” she said.

In mid-January of this year, Hartman was flown to London, where she studied abroad at one time, joining the cast of 456 contestants, seeking the millions of dollars on the 10-episode series.

It was a happy moment for her mother, Karen, who still resides in Kenilworth.

“I was very proud that she was able to participate in an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.

After initially placed in a hotel, Hartman moved into a set resembling a dormitory, getting closer to the other contestants.

“That was something that made the experience all that much better,” she said. “I got to meet all kinds of interesting people from all over the world that I wouldn’t know otherwise.”

The initial requirement of Squid Game contestants is to play the child’s game of Red Light, Green Light while dressed in track suits sporting their contestant number. Hartman’s number was 335.

With all 456 people in an airplane hangar designed to resemble the Red Light, Green Light competition in the original program, the contestants await the commands from a giant doll. They are eliminated if the doll detects movement when not allowed. If caught, an ink pack under their clothes explodes, symbolizing their death in the game.

Hartman was one almost 200 contestants to pass that first round.

“It was tough and challenging,” she said. “You definitely had to keep your mind in the game. But it was such a rewarding finish once we crossed the line. It was one of the great accomplishments of my life. That sounds dramatic but it was a cool physical feat that I was able to accomplish.”

However, Hartman’s run on the show concluded in the second episode when she was playing Dalgona, where contestants are required to use a needle to extract a shape on the Dalgona — which is like a cookie — using a needle, without breaking it.

There were four possible shapes to draw with circle, triangle, star and umbrella.

“I was in the umbrella line which is notoriously the hardest shape to complete,” Hartman said. “I got the short end of the stick by having to do the umbrella shape but it was still an exciting experience and I made a lot of friends.”

Now back home, Hartman, who works as an art director for a Manhattan-based advertising agency and believes her involvement in the show will assist her career.

“Being immersed in that experience was incredible,” she said. “I work in experiential advertising where every day we are trying to create experiences that are positive for people as well as being immersive and influential.”

The program was taped almost a year ago but she was not allowed to tell anyone of her participation until recently after the final episode aired.

“It was tough to keep a secret,” she said.

As for whether she would do another reality show, Hartman is uncertain.

“I’d have to think about it,” she said. “It’s a commitment.”

The winner took home over $4.5 million, but Hartman is not sad and speaks happily about her venture into the world of reality television.

“We don’t get any money,” she said. “But the experience was payment enough.”

Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.

Originally Published: Dec 12, 2023 at 4:24 pm