We were joined on the Popternative show by Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game, I Saw the Devil) who stars in the Korean dark comedy-thriller, No Other Choice, from acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Oldboy). Based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax, Lee plays Man-su, a man on a desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he worked at for 25 years.
No Other Choice marks the most recent collaboration between Park and Lee following their previous work together on Three… Extremes (2004) and Joint Security Area (2000). “Working with Park this time around, even though he has a different role on set than me as a director, his level of meticulousness and focus was something I really learned from even though I do something different as an actor. It’s something new I realized even though we have known each other for almost 30 years,” Lee says.
Following a successful festival run, the film picked up three nominations for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Pcicture – Non-English Language, and Lee Byung-hun for Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Lee has starred in numerous projects that have reached a global audience, and he speaks about the worldwide impact of cinema in today’s landscape:
“A Bittersweet Life was the first film I was part of that entered a kind of a big global film festival run and that was my opportunity to enter Hollywood and become part of Hollywood blockbusters as well. However, during that time, we didn’t necessarily feel that global scale impact or reaction from audiences. Since then, even with No Other Choice, it references Netflix, and I have worked on projects for Netflix as well and it is undeniable the effect that streaming services have on our viewership.”
Watch the full converation with Lee Byung-hun below.
No Other Choice is now playing in limited theaters and will release everywhere in January.
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