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| ▲ This photo of actor Lee Byung-hun is provided by BH Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- In South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s new film "No Other Choice," actor Lee Byung-hun plays Man-su, a man who seems to have it all—a beautiful wife, children, and a house with a yard. He first appears grilling eels in a Hawaiian shirt and mustache, exuding ease and satisfaction.
But after he is suddenly laid off, his mustache disappears, visually mirroring his loss of confidence as he struggles to find new work.
“I tried on the mustache and Hawaiian shirt before filming,” Lee recalled during a press roundtable in Seoul on Wednesday. “When I looked at the photos, I thought I looked more like a South American cartel boss or drug lord than an ordinary family man. It was confusing at first.”
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| ▲ A still from "No Other Choice," provided by CJ ENM, features Man-soo's family hugging each other. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
The film, based on the novel The Ax, follows Man-su’s downfall, desperate attempts to compete for a job, and ultimate fate. Lee admitted he was concerned that the mustache would distract audiences from the story: “I worried that it might block emotional immersion.”
Those fears were soon dispelled. When No Other Choice premiered in competition at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, critics compared Man-su not to a drug kingpin but to Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936). They saw echoes of Chaplin’s slapstick comedy and his inability to adapt to the mechanized factory system in Man-su’s struggle against AI-driven workplaces.
“My wife, Lee Min-jung, said the same thing,” Lee laughed. “That Man-su looked like Chaplin bumbling through an assembly line, except now it’s an AI system.”
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| ▲ This still from "No Other Choice" is provided by CJ ENM. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
The actor also linked the film’s theme of shrinking job opportunities to current anxieties in the film industry. “AI-generated videos with my face already exist,” he said. “At first, I thought, ‘When did I film this?’ That shows how job losses to AI are no longer abstract—they affect everyone, directly or indirectly.”
He noted that Man-su’s fading paper industry mirrors the precarious state of movie theaters today: “Content keeps being produced for streaming, but the theater industry is in urgent need of revival. We need to find ways to bring audiences back.”
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| ▲ This still from "No Other Choice" is provided by CJ ENM. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Lee, who has starred in major hits this year including Squid Game Season 3, Netflix’s K-pop Demon Hunters, and now No Other Choice, admitted he shares Man-su’s deeper fears.
“Our film begins with ‘I achieved it all,’ but ends with ‘I lost everything,’” he said. “That sense of insecurity is always there for me too. I’ve worked for a long time and been loved as an actor, but I wonder how long I’ll remain a ‘must-watch’ face on screen.”
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