“It’s not easy to be me today,” LISA tells Billboard Canada.
For many, the global K-pop icon is a larger-than-life entity. She’s already a lauded member of one of the world’s biggest pop groups, BLACKPINK, and her solo work has secured a top-20 album on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart, multiple charting Hot 100 hits and millions of followers on social media. It’s hard not to feel starstruck in her presence.
But then there’s Lalisa, the person behind the LISA persona.
The former Billboard Canada cover star casually sits on the couch at Toronto’s Union Hotel with a sherpa blanket covering her legs and a heat pack between her hands. She nurses a melting iced matcha on the table in front of her, making sure to clarify: “It has almond milk."
She's giving a glimpse of the human side of LISA, which takes centre stage in her new phase. She's giving an honest look at her life and emotions, and not shying away from controversy.
LISA is the subject of a new documentary, Always Lalisa, directed by Sue Kim, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 11. The documentary follows the singer during her one-year break from BLACKPINK, which propelled her and fellow members, ROSÉ, JISOO and JENNIE into the limelight nearly a decade ago.
To some, a break should be relaxing, but LISA hit the ground running. In one year, she officially launched her solo career, released her debut album, started her own artist management company, acted in the acclaimed third season of HBO’s The White Lotus and geared up for her biggest solo performance to date at Coachella.
Initially, LISA says, a documentary was not on her mind.
“It started during my break, just filming for an archive,” she explains. “But as the days passed, I started to feel like it was about time to tell the world a little about my story. I felt like it could inspire some of the young girls out there that have the same dream as me.”
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Always Lalisa follows the singer between 2024 and 2025, but chronicles LISA’s entire career with archival footage and never-before-seen clips, beginning when the singer rose from obscurity in Thailand as a teen, surpassing 4,000 contestants to become a trainee at YG Entertainment, the major South Korean entertainment agency and record label.
It’s a unique story to tell, and Kim does it with such care and insight that you’d assume the two had known each other for a long time. But it was only two years ago that Kim met LISA backstage at Hot Ones, the popular internet interview series. Upon their meeting, she says they knew they had to work together.
“ She was awesome. I knew her public persona as this very sweet, lovely, badass dancer [who is] fierce, but just bubbly and cute,” Kim says. “You never know when you meet people if there's another side to them. But when I met her, she is like that. She is genuinely herself.”
But during filming, Kim discovered a “much deeper, emotionally complex side” that she was happy to uncover.
Previously, Kim — whose film The Last of the Sea Women premiered at the festival in 2024 — served as a producer on Apple TV+’s K-Pop Idols, which helped her process in many ways, figuring out how to tell LISA’s story in a particular way that didn’t alienate new fans but satisfied longtime “Lillies,” the name for fans of the artist.
"K-pop is such an interesting, fascinating universe,” she explains. There's these very unspoken rules and it's a specific, esoteric world. If you don't know [the rules], you won’t understand the stakes of what LISA was trying to accomplish in that year.” Kim calls the process a “gentle education.”
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Early in the film, LISA explains the strict guidelines that she operates under, including no drinking, not being able to publicly date, no driving and remaining in her role as “the rapper” in BLACKPINK. She later reveals she didn’t go to a nightclub until 25. She’s 29 now.
“There's so many landmines in the world of K-pop where if she said or did the wrong thing, it could be misconstrued,” Kim explains. “I never wanted her to feel like that was anything that I would be willing to do. I often told her that it’s okay to be vulnerable, honest and raw, but I always reassured her that she was safe.”
LISA has approached the whole process with the same vulnerability and honesty. In an interview with Variety after the film’s Toronto premiere, she addressed the pre-debut BLACKPINK videos that leaked last year in which she is shown rapping the N-word — the documentary spotlights how she dealt with the controversy.
“I really have to apologize,” she told Variety. “Now I’ve learned and got educated about that, and I would never [do it again].”
She confidently takes responsibility. As she recalls her desire to transition from rapping to singing, she openly explains the challenges she faced. An earnest moment in dog therapy even makes the cut.
“Everything I said is the truth,” LISA confirms. “I just want anyone who’s watching this documentary to understand me a little bit more. Where I'm coming from, or what my background is and what I go through to be me today.”
“It was a crazy thing [to be vulnerable]. Sue has the warmth that made me feel comfortable to open up. We would have a three-hour conversation on camera, and I had no filter,” she recalls. “ For me, my life is my documentary — so I tried to give everything.”
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LISA credits Kim for helping her to open up during filming. The director often took an observational approach when filming to capture the singer’s real emotions, working with a small camera crew and adapting a fly-on-the-wall approach.
“At first it was a little awkward, but Sue always made sure that I felt comfortable filming,” LISA affirms. It's so nice that they were always checking up on me, and sometimes I just forgot that they were filming me. It was like a cup of water on the table. I appreciated how much they cared about me and my space."
In the film, LISA talks about the late Mr. Nok, one of her earliest mentors. She initially holds back tears, but eventually lets them fall when talking about his impact. Equally impactful figures for the singer are her parents and childhood friends, who are featured in the documentary, going beyond the glitz and glam of her all-star persona.
“They’re always going to be my comfort zone,” she says. "My mom and my dad are my biggest supporters since day one. I can tell that they're very proud of me.” Her mom has already bought a ticket for the theatrical release, she says.
After nine months and four cities, when her solo Coachella performance comes into frame, the rewarding moment feels like a collective win. “It was such a gift to film her and to work with her,” Kim says. “It was like an endurance marathon because she works so hard.”
Letting her fans in on her experience was always the guiding light of Always Lalisa.
“My fans, they’ve never really seen the behind-the-scenes of how I work and what I did to prepare,” LISA explains. “I wanted them to understand me more, that I'm still a human.”
Always Lalisa will be released in theatres on Oct. 12.
