Spoilers below.
Lisa has given over 10 years of her life to Blackpink, so when the opportunity arose for her to give a solo career a shot, she took it. When the time came, the pop star brought the cameras along, resulting in her brand-new documentary, Always Lalisa, out now in theaters.
“I feel like it’s about time. I’m more confident now, so I want to share my story to fans who have a big dream like me,” Lisa told Variety at the September premiere of the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I hope that this could inspire them.”
Directed by Sue Kim, Always Lalisa documents the trials and tribulations that the K-pop rapper experienced with making a solo project of her own, creating a music label imprint, and recording her debut solo album, Alter Ego.
“Nobody was telling me what to do and I’m the one who has to choose the road to go down next. At first, it was like, ‘What should I do? What should I do?!’” she added. “I tried it step by step and little by little, gained a lot of confidence and learned so much on my own. It’s been such a great journey for me, and I feel like my solo career just started.”
Here are the biggest revelations from Always Lalisa.
Lisa initially wanted to be a dance teacher until her instructor pushed her to branch out into singing.
During the documentary, Lisa got emotional thinking about her childhood dance instructor, Teacher Nok, who she says changed the trajectory of her life.
“I haven’t talked about him for a while because it’s one of the most sensitive parts in my life,” she said while blotting away tears. “I think he changed my life. When I was little, I wanted to be a dance teacher like him. I thought that was something super cool. I was very, very proud to be a part of his team.”
Her mother, Chitthip Bruschweiler, explained that she learned discipline, perseverance, and how to deal with pressure from working with Nok. “The turning point for my child was when Teacher Nok said, ‘Pokpak, are you going to stay in the back like this forever? Don’t you want to be in the front?’” she recalled. “Those are the words that drove Lisa to start singing.”
With the push of encouragement, Lisa shifted her focus beyond dance and started competing in singing competitions as well. “It’s because of this teacher that I started thinking about my future, and not just becoming a dance teacher,” she said. “And after that, I started joining competitions that weren’t just about dancing.”
Bruschweiler noted that Nok was often hard on Lisa, and often wondered why she got the brunt of his scolding. In hindsight, she said, “I think [Nok] saw her potential, the potential I didn’t see. I’m so grateful to him for seeing my daughter’s potential.”
Lisa’s time with Nok would be cut short due to a battle with cancer. He was admitted to the hospital and the dance team faltered as a result—but fate had other plans. YG had an open audition in Thailand before Nok’s passing, and according to Bruschweiler, Lisa “was able to tell him that she got accepted as a trainee at YG Entertainment.”
Lisa had a secret relationship that her fans never found out about.
On the pop star’s debut solo album, Alter Ego, she wrote the song “Dream” about her first love, which she experienced at 25. In the documentary, she explained that the K-pop system can be exhausting when it comes to dating because it can reduce the popularity of a star’s respective group if the news gets out.
“I was worried a lot when I was recording ‘Dream,’” she shared. “I didn’t want my dating to hurt Blackpink’s popularity, so if a relationship was going to be a big problem, I was going to end it. When I turned 25, I realized that it’s not normal to hide dating. I had a dream about this person from an old relationship...I don’t think it was fully resolved yet.”
Lisa contacted the person in question and informed them about the track. “The person said, ‘[Fine], as long as the fans don’t find out.’ The fans couldn’t figure it out,” she said. “They thought they figured it out, but I don’t think so.”
The team at The White Lotus was hesitant to cast her.
While continuing to branch out in her solo career, Lisa was suggested by a friend to try out for season 3 of The White Lotus. The show’s creator, Mike White, didn’t know much about her, but had some apprehension about her potentially joining the cast.
“I wasn’t familiar with Blackpink; I did know who Lisa was. I just knew that when her name was mentioned, there was this intensity in the room,” White recalled. “This is not some actress that is just being pitched. There’s something more here.”
The show’s executive producer, David Bernad, explained that their “biggest fear” initially was Lisa “needing security or unwanted fans or general high maintenance,” which they didn’t want to deal with. White recalled, “This felt like it was stunt casting or we were trying to generate interest in the show...like I didn’t want to do this,” but after meeting with Lisa and her mother, he realized that his first impression was incorrect.
“She does not have this manner of someone who is getting a lot of external attention on her,” White said, gushing that the part of Mook was meant for Lisa.
Lisa addressed her N-word controversy.
While preparing for her solo headlining slot at Coachella, a video of Lisa from her Blackpink trainee days went viral, in which she said the N-word while performing a track for label executives.
“We’re like 15 or 16. During our trainee days, we always do a monthly video to show the boss,” she explained. “I was told to do rap, so I did a lot of rap cover and there’s N-words in it, but I didn’t know that was sensitive because I’m from Thailand, my first language is not English and I never got the education about the culture that...you can’t say this.
“It’s bad,” she added. “I felt bad that I did that. I would never [say] that because now I have education on that and now I know better, but I did wrong.” At the time, Lisa did not issue a statement about the video, but later apologized at the documentary’s TIFF premiere in her September interview with Variety.
“I really have to apologize,” Lisa said. “To be honest, I’m Thai and I grew up in Thailand. There isn’t any education for that, so at the time, I didn’t know. Now I’ve learned and got educated about that, and I would never [do it again]. This is not okay. Seriously.”
“Everything is real. It’s all there,” she added. “I was just sad because I really wanted to focus on my performance, but things happened, and you can’t control stuff. But I fought through it.”