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When HBO announced season three of its luxurious drama series The White Lotus, fans swooned over the starry ensemble cast. Notable Hollywood names included Avengers star Carrie Coon, Mission: Impossible’s Michelle Monaghan, Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood and Patrick Schwarzenegger (Arnie’s son). The buzziest casting decision, however, wasn’t anyone you’ve seen acting on screen before: it was that of K-pop superstar Lalisa Manobal.
Known mononymously to millions of Blackpink fans as Lisa, the South Korean singer makes her acting debut as Mook, the smiley and upbeat resort manager of the fictional hotel franchise’s Thai branch. The third season of Mike White’s acclaimed satire, sees a new group of affluent, complicated and prickly holidaymakers checking in. On the basis of the first two seasons, we can expect lashings of debauchery, backstabbing, dreadful behaviour with a side order of social commentary.
Manobal’s fans have never seen her act, but they are already confident in her thespian abilities. Look at any promotional content surrounding The White Lotus’s third season, and you’ll find the comments section filled with fans celebrating Manobal’s sashay into acting. “I am so excited for actress Lisa!” wrote one fan. “Thailand is proud of you!” chimed another. “LISAAA? OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS MADE!” It’s easy to see why they have so much faith in her next career move: they’ve witnessed the singer climb through the brutal K-pop industrial complex since she was 13.
Born in the Buriram Province of Thailand in 1997, Manobal beat thousands of others at an open audition for the South Korean entertainment agency, YG, aged 13. Manobal moved to South Korea in 2011 to begin her formal training alongside other hopeful popstars, initially appearing as a background dancer for K-boybands iKon and Winner. When Blackpink was formed by YG – matching Manobal with members Jisoo, Rosé and Jennie Kim – the four were thrust into an intense schedule of 14-hour-long training days. They lived together and were subject to strict rules about dieting, dating, phone access and their appearances.
When the band debuted in 2016, Manobal became YG’s first-ever K-pop star of non-Korean descent. She quickly adapted to Korean culture; becoming fluent in the language and won a legion of fans (there are 105 million of them on Instagram alone). Expectations of the group were high – YG’s beloved four-member girl group 2NEI had disbanded and it was up to Blackpink to resuscitate the EDM-style hyper pop sound adored by K-pop fans.
They succeeded. Blackpink’s stardom has seen them transcend geographical borders: their 2022 album, Born Pink, became the first K-pop girl group album to top the US and UK charts. They were the first Korean girl group to headline Coachella. And in 2023, the band accompanied South Korea’s president and first lady on a state visit to the UK. King Charles awarded each member with honorary MBEs for their environmental advocacy work at the Cop26 summit.
Manobal launched her solo career in 2021, which she juggles with her Blackpink commitments. She launched her self-titled debut solo album Lalisa to huge fanfare, and broke recordings internationally. Her single “Money” became the longest-charting song by a female K-pop soloist on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, and she was named the first K-pop solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify. In South Korea, Lalisa made her the first female soloist to surpass 500,000 sales within one week of release.
The 2020 Netflix documentary Blackpink: Light Up the Sky offered a glimpse of the group’s harsh training schedules. All of the members admitted they experienced loneliness after leaving home so young – with one of them breaking down in tears – but Manobal displayed a steely resilience. “I had to keep fighting,” she said. Elsewhere in the documentary, her bandmates expressed their admiration for Manobal’s star power. Bandmate Jennie Kim remembered meeting Manobal at training camp and thinking: “As soon as Lisa came in, that’s when I thought, ‘Wow, there are people who are born to do this.’”
If any popstar can join HBO’s award-winning holiday drama with no acting experience, it’s Manobal. She didn’t walk into the audition for The White Lotus expecting to get the part, but when she received the news, she cried, surrounded by her friends and family. “I’m super excited and nervous, because it’s my first acting project,” she told Elle. “So I was happy for a second, and then I was like, ‘Oh, wait, wait, how am I going to deliver this?’”
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Manobal took a handful of acting classes before she arrived in Thailand to begin shooting the series in February last year. “I did take lessons a few times, but my schedule isn’t very flexible, so I stopped,” she said. Manobal’s co-stars, aware of her lack of acting experience, were supportive during the filming process. “On set, everyone was so professional,” Manobal said. “They understood that it was my first time acting, so they tried to help me and give me advice, like ‘Oh, you shouldn’t stress. You’re going to be fine.’” Instead of doubting her abilities, she approached filming days as if she was shooting a music video. “It’s pretty new to me, but I think it’s similar to shooting music videos. I’m excited for my fans to see it. I feel like people are going to fall in love with Thailand even more.”
Monobal’s character Mook is calm and softly-spoken, even when dealing with the feral guests’ most demanding requests. It’s her relationship with car park security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), though, that becomes a central storyline in the new season. Speaking about working so closely with Manobal, Thapthimthong said: “She really helped me out with the Thai dialogue. She really made the effort to give me a call, inviting me to lunch, dinner or a boat trip when we weren’t shooting.”
Lou Wood, who plays Goggins’ party animal younger girlfriend, said witnessing Manobal’s first scenes was “amazing because she was so nervous and scared. She’s got so much humility. She absolutely nailed it; I was so impressed by her. Her storyline with Tayme is one of my favourite of the season, it’s so beautiful.”
Acting may be new to Manobal, but she took comfort in filming The White Lotus in her home country, with locations in Bangkok and the islands of Phuket and Koh Samui. It marked a welcome opportunity for the star to return to her roots after years of working overseas. “My mom came to stay a few times, and I could have Thai food as much as I wanted,” she told Elle. “It was so nice, and I have never spent that much time in Thailand after I left. I felt like I was home, and I got a lot of energy from that trip as well.”
The White Lotus certainly marks another huge opportunity for the singer. Speaking about the hardships she faced during her popstar training, she didn’t dwell on the difficulties. “I had to give it my all,” she said. “I didn’t care about how long it would take. I said ‘Bring it on! I don’t care anymore!’” It’s in her nature to give her acting debut that same dedication.
