BLACKPINK's Lisa Is Officially A Crossover Acting Star On The White Lotus

There are three categories of people eagerly anticipating the return of Mike White's superb satire anthology series, "The White Lotus." Group A are those who obsessively watched the first two seasons and are frothing at the mouth wondering what will be the new, memorable "these gays are trying to kill me" quote that will become their whole personality. Group B are those who love great television and are capable of being Normal About It — at least enough to differentiate themselves from Group A. 

But season 3 has introduced a new category that already has a name — welcome to the White Lotus party Blink (and/or Lillies)! The newest season of "The White Lotus" marks the debut of international superstar and Thailand-born BLACKPINK member Lalisa Manoban, aka Lisa. She plays Mook, a health mentor for guests of the White Lotus Thailand resort and sometimes performer during the customary evening entertainment. During scenes between her work shifts, Mook finds herself in a very flirty friendship with one of the resort's security guards, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong).

South Korean culture and K-pop culture in particular has become more popular than ever in America, but the acting debut of Lisa is a huge deal.

For one thing, Lisa is the biggest K-pop star in the world. But unlike her fellow BLACKPINK member Jennie Kim, who appeared on "The Idol," Lisa was cast in a show that is getting rave reviews. (For the record, Jennie deserved better than that show and someone needs to cast her in something new ASAP). One of the best aspects of "The White Lotus" is how frequently audiences are introduced to actors they were previously unfamiliar with and instantly become fan favorites, and Lisa's Mook is undoubtedly one of those characters for season 3. Not only is Mook one of the comforting balms on a show about messy, sometimes outright dastardly people, but she has allowed Lisa to prove that she truly is a triple-threat performer. Her new album "Alter Ego" may still be weeks away, but "The White Lotus" is a hell of an introduction for those who aren't already on board with her work.

In an interview with Variety, Lisa said that Mook was a lot like her, but that the character is "flirtier and lady-like," a contrast to Lisa identifying more like "a tomboy." Despite the fact that she's been performing for sold-out crowds all across the globe for years, she was in a battle with her own nervous system on the first day of shooting: "I'm so nervous; I was sweating. I was like, 'I can't remember my lines. I'm blanked!'" 

Fortunately, any of those nerves were left on the cutting room floor, because Lisa's performance as Mook is an incredibly confident debut. There's something so relatable about the developing crush with Gaitok, and the chemistry Lisa has with Thapthimthong is palpable. It's impossible to watch the two of them flirt with each other and not immediately root for them to end up together by the end of the series. Thapthimthong also said that when the cast would spend time together bonding after work, they'd go out for dinners, drinks, or karaoke. However, whenever Thapthimthong would sing, Lisa would elect to perform a dance routine. She's one of the most famous musicians in the world, but karaoke isn't her thing. "I'm just shy when it comes to karaoke," she said. "I'll be in the back." 

The duo's onscreen performance is one of the highlights of the season, and it's clear that the two developed a fantastic rapport. This is probably due to Lisa's frequent assistance with her scene partner in speaking Thai. Lisa is multilingual (native Thai, she speaks fluent Korean and English, in addition to basic Japanese and Chinese) and often helped Thapthimthong with his Thai, as it is his second language but his character has never left Ko Samui, Thailand. "His Thai has to be very local and authentic — she was a great help," Thapthimthong told Variety. "I started doing the lines in how I normally speak Thai, and they're like, 'Lisa, can you help?'"

While "The White Lotus" was her first time acting on a scripted program, Lisa has been putting in some additional acting work in the lead-up to the release of her album, "Alter Ego." As part of the album's theme, Lisa has been developing five different personas to better represent the songs. There's in-depth character work involved with each persona, including personality profiles, and a distinct aesthetic. She recently introduced the character "Kiki" to promote the song "New Woman" feat. Rosalía. It's a very Y2K-era pop song, and the music video even includes flip phones and styling that looks like every cool Tumblr gifset you'd have saved to your faves. Being able to shift between Lisa the person, Lisa the performer, and the alter egos of Lisa is quite impressive, and it's clear that some of what she learned on "The White Lotus" carried over into her music career.

"I don't get camera-shy. It was natural to be in front of the camera," she told Variety. "But of course, I think it's a huge difference between being a singer and being an actor. There's still so much stuff that I have to learn about this acting world trip." Fortunately, Lisa also told Variety that she wants to continue acting, with dreams of hopefully one day doing an action film. "I'm a dancer and a performer, she explained. "I think I can go through all the routines, and do an action movie." 

If "The White Lotus" is any indicator, Lisa could absolutely go far with an acting career and truly become a crossover star if she so chooses. Hopefully, a filmmaker watching the HBO series at home will see her potential and cast her in that action movie. Television is great, but Lisa is more than capable of commanding the biggest screen possible.

New episodes of "The White Lotus" air every Sunday.