Lisa and Director Sue Kim on Documenting the Star’s Break From the K-pop System in ‘Always Lalisa’

Was it fate that sent Lisa into the global spotlight? Always Lalisa, Sue Kim’s documentary on the global superstar, starts with the K-pop idol-turned-actress and her mother recounting her visit to a fortune teller that ended with a suggestion to change her daughter’s name to Lalisa. It would be a name loved by many, the fortune teller told her mother. Lisa, whose real name is Lalisa Manobal, remembers the change well. “I think I was 13,” the singer tells The Hollywood Reporter. It’s been a whirlwind year since the cameras stopped rolling for Always Lalisa, which chronicles the singer’s year away from the record-breaking girl group Blackpink. The pop star explains in the documentary that she and the rest of Blackpink — Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé — promised each other that they’d take a year away from the group to pursue solo endeavors. Throughout that year away, Lisa released her first full-length album, Alter Ego, starred in The White Lotus and snagged herself a Coachella solo lineup spot. Lisa was brought up in the busy world of K-pop, consistently heading from one appearance to another as a member of Blackpink. But the documentary shows the star even more committed to packing every moment she can into her schedule. It was nonstop, but it wasn’t exactly the same. “It felt different,” she says. “At first, that one-year break wasn’t the plan — that I was going to squeeze in everything. More or less, we just wanted to take a break and find the things that we wanted to do,” she says. “At first, [I thought] maybe I’m going to travel. But The White Lotus opportunity came in and I didn’t want to waste that one-year time.” Last summer, she and Blackpink reunited after their year apart to record another group EP, Deadline, released in February, and headed out on a world tour. Now the women of the group are back to releasing solo music again — Lisa recently performed her single “SaWaDiKa” at the the MTV Video Music Awards, where she took home the best pop award — and her schedule is similar to what it was in that year “break.” Lalisa Manobal at the premiere of ‘Always Lalisa’ during the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Robin Marchant/Getty Images The doc showcases Lisa’s family and friends from her home country of Thailand in a way that her time as a K-pop star didn’t often afford her. K-pop has historically been an industry that holds idols — the name given to pop stars in the Korean entertainment industry — to an extremely high standard. Their personal lives are often showcased in a way that’s entirely filtered through the entertainment company’s lens. Kim wasn’t looking to do that. “I knew from the get go that I was operating under different instructions, that I was going to be able to work with a beloved K-pop idol away from the K-pop system,” the director says. “That was so appealing to me because that meant, ‘Oh, I can approach this honestly and I can approach it with intimacy and vulnerability and truth about what their lives are like.'” In one of the most honest moments of the film, Lisa admits that, like many young women her age, she wants to get married and have children. But there is a lingering concern that her fans won’t like that. “I hope they understand me more,” Lisa says when asked about the vulnerable moment from the film. “I’m just a girl, we want the same thing at the end of the day. That’s it. I just want them to understand me more.” Blackpink appears throughout the film, but it focues mostly on Lisa’s life outside the group. Kim’s intention was to make sure it didn’t feel like a K-pop film. “It was a film about someone who had achieved a great amount of success in a K-pop girl group, but we were covering her year away from that, kind of discovering herself and figuring out a new path for her solo career,” she says. Kim naturally had to bring in Lisa’s past to explain how she got to this point, but she purposefully kept it limited. Part of that was a creative choice, but the director also wanted to incorporate more of Blackpink’s songs and music videos, particularly from the trainee years, so audiences could hear what Lisa sounded like as a member of the group. Ultimately, it didn’t work out logistically. Lisa performs at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella “Despite our best efforts, we were not allowed to license the music or the footage, so that was it,” Kim says. “That was our only interaction with her previous label and the small amount of the K-pop lore that I wanted to bring into it, we weren’t able to.” The film does take on one uncomfortable piece of that history, however: a recent controversy surrounding leaked trainee videos of Lisa and some of the Blackpink members singing songs with the N-word. The singer had previously been silent on the matter, as it’s revealed in the documentary, that appears to be a mix of the K-pop labels suggestions and death threats aimed at her. She is apologetic in the film. “I feel like I didn’t have a chance to really say [an apology],” she says. “Through this documentary, I wanted to share that.” The director clarifies that the moment came up organically in filming. “We obviously get her in a very unguarded moment talking about what was happening on the couch,” she says, speaking to the scene where the singer reacts to the leaked videos. “That was the day that the videos were released.” It was not, Kim emphasizes, a scripted moment. “That wasn’t her deciding she wanted to say something. That was literally us in the moment with her while she’s dealing with this shocking thing that happened,” the director says. “You can see it in her reaction and that conversation, you can really feel the emotions. She’s sad and she’s disappointed in herself and she’s regretful.” The documentary ends with Lisa’s return to Korea to begin preparations for Blackpink’s world tour and the group’s latest album. On screen, she seems nervous to return to the previous version of herself. “We’re human. We have fear,” she says now. “I feel like we learned so much during the break,” she continues. “When we go back [now], it’s even better. Everybody comes back with an amazing energy. We miss each other so much, and we’re like, ‘OK, we’re locked in. We’re back, guys.'” Lisa’s now focused on her latest single “SaWaDiKa” and her upcoming EP Press Play, due Oct. 23. “I’m so happy that [the fans] can finally hear it because I’ve been keeping this to myself for some time,” she says of her latest single. She’ll perform the song, and many more, at her upcoming Las Vegas residency. Watching that year back through the documentary has only strengthened Lisa’s belief in herself. “Truly that’s real me,” she says. “What I’ve gone through, how hard that I worked.” “I’m just so proud of myself,” she adds.