In No Other Choice, Lee projects the desperation of an ordinary man (think Pottersville-era Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life), the charisma of a movie star (his looks get quite a bit of attention in the film), and the comic chops to pull off such a complex role.
Director Park Chan-wook’s dark humorous drama was screened in the competition section of the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and received high praise. In Toronto, the film won the International People’s Choice Award. The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for awards, including three Gotham Awards and three Golden Globe nominations, with Lee receiving a Globe nomination for Best Actor. (This variety special issue was published before the Golden Globe Awards ceremony on January 11th.)
No wonder. In these times of economic uncertainty, the phrase “there is no other choice” is completely relatable.
Lee Man-soo worked hard at a paper mill for 25 years, focusing on his career while also helping his wife and his family build a solid middle-class life. Living the dream, right?
Wrong. Mance is given up by a new owner, and his comfortable life changes completely. Job interviews are miserable. His teenage son can’t believe he has to cancel Netflix. They have to leave their dogs with relatives to take care of them. And the job market is tough for middle-aged business owners. All of this leads Mance to identify and plan to kill a potential candidate for the job he’s after. Simple.
Park’s adaptation of Donald Westlake’s noir The Ax is a story of our time and a commentary on how fast-moving corporations in pursuit of wealth value their employees.
Korean superstar Lee’s angry, funny, endearing, even slapstick performance in No Other Choice has been praised by critics, and he is no stranger to audiences outside his hometown, having starred in several big-budget Hollywood films including GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, its sequel Red 2, and Terminator Genisys. He also topped some of the most successful Korean films of the past few decades, including “Concrete Utopia,” “The Masquerade,” “Inside Men,” “I Saw the Devil,” and “Joint Security Area,” which began his collaboration and friendship with Park.
His turn in “Choice” shows his range, especially to audiences who only know him from his steely, creepy turn in “Squid Game.”
In Netflix’s global hit series, Lee’s frontman is the polar opposite of Mance, a shadowy strongman who oversees a dangerous game in which participants literally die for the prize. Although he is a puppet master with a tragic past, he shows a flicker of humanity in the series finale, which may also be a tribute to Player 456’s Ki-hoon (Lee Jeong-jae). He also co-stars with Cate Blanchett in season 3, and there’s a powerful moment in which he exchanges multiple telegrams without either of them saying anything.
If being part of two of South Korea’s biggest exports in the past two years wasn’t enough, Lee is also one of the voice actors for another Netflix phenomenon, “KPop Demon Hunter.”
But that’s Lee’s gift. The handsome superstar turns Parks’ recent skewering of society tropes on its head and dives into animated musicals, letting the world know he’s more than just a decadent game frontman.
