At face value, she is like any other 29-year-old. As she sits on the precipice of 30, she’s going through that emotional tug-of-war that comes with b
At face value, she is like any other 29-year-old. As she sits on the precipice of 30, she’s going through that emotional tug-of-war that comes with both the self-reflection of growing older and the stubborn eagerness of youth.
“Sometimes when you’re doing the things that [you’ve done] for more than 10 years, you feel like you should find new things to find inspiration,” Manobal says of venturing into acting.
After wrapping the latest Blackpink tour in January, she spent February filming her first movie, Tygo, a spin-off film in the Extraction franchise set in South Korea, but it all started with The White Lotus.
She was a shoo-in for the type of stunt casting the show is known for. The third season was to film in Thailand, her home country, and she was both renowned enough to be considered yet an incredibly unexpected choice. When she heard about the show, she decided to send a tape.
“She was amazing in the audition,” Bernad says. Manobal doesn’t remember it that way. “It was really bad,” she says, laughing. She took some acting lessons before her callback, this time to meet Mike White, the show’s creator.
The White Lotus materialized at the right time for Manobal. Acting was entirely novel territory, but there was a comfort level in the role being Thai and her character speaking both English and her mother tongue.
The show propelled her to novel heights, particularly stateside. Now Manobal gets recognized in the US not just for her music. “I’m so happy, and I’m still surprised they know me as Lalisa, the actor,” she says.
Bernad recalls a night when, at dinner with Manobal, she said she wanted to go dancing. Nothing unusual for a girl in her behind schedule 20s, but Manobal is Lisa. Her whims are that of anyone her age, but her life is not.
“It’s easy to forget how famous she is, especially in LA,” Bernad says. Their group headed to her favorite club in Koreatown. “We were in the back area, and she’s like, ‘Let’s go on the dance floor,’ ” he says. He remembers having his back turned to the club as they danced by the DJ booth. “At some point I turned around and every single person in that club was staring at us,” he says. “Five hundred people just staring at Lisa. It was this moment in which we were like, ‘Oh yeah, she is one of the most famous musicians in the world.’ ”
Manobal and I are sitting on the terrace at Soho House overlooking the Los Angeles skyline. My back is against the window, and she’s facing me, which grants her some anonymity. While we speak, she fidgets with her hoodie. As our conversation extends into the hour mark, her hood creeps upward along the side of her face most observable to those around us. She’s not necessarily hiding—cautious is more like it. No one seems to be watching, but then again, I’m not the renowned one among us.
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