As Lisa Manobal makes her acting debut in season three of The White Lotus on ITV, here is everything you need to know about the Blackpink star’s incredible life
The third series of The White Lotus is finally back on our screens, and fans have spotted a fresh face welcoming guests as they arrive by boat at a luxurious 5-star resort in Thailand. However, she’s not exactly new to the spotlight.
Lalisa Manobal, 27, is actually a member of the world’s most successful girl band, Blackpink. She’s better known simply as Lisa.
The K-pop sensation has racked up more than 40 billion on-demand streams and the band’s popularity has been steadily rising over the years.
This month has been particularly momentous for Lalisa, with the release of her first solo album and the announcement of a world tour, all happening in the same month as her acting debut in the hit HBO series.
Originally hailing from Thailand, Lisa was just 13 when she outshone thousands of other aspiring musicians in auditions for Seoul-based Young Entertainment (YG), hoping to secure a spot on their notoriously rigorous trainee programme, reports the Mirror.
In her early teens, she didn’t speak any Korean and was the company’s first-ever pop star hopeful who wasn’t of Korean descent.
The rest, as they say, is history. Lisa went on to cultivate a confident stage persona, renowned for her dancing prowess and exceptional rapping skills, which contributed to the band bagging the Best K-Pop award at the MTV VMAs last September.
In a recent teaser for her new album, Alter Ego, she hints at collaborations with Raye and Doja Cat.
With a whopping 105 million followers on Instagram, Lisa has even caught the attention of King Charles III. The star was invited to Buckingham Palace in 2023 for a prestigious state banquet and received an honorary MBE from the King.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Lisa later shared that she would ‘forever cherish’ the moment, posting a thrilled photo of herself proudly displaying the award.
In October of the same year, she also became the first-ever K-pop soloist to get two 14 million-like videos on YouTube and, prior to this, was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame for her works as a ‘cultural Icon.’
Lisa announced the launch of her own agency a year ago, in February 2024, via Instagram, telling her legion of fans that her new venture was a “platform to showcase my vision in music and entertainment”.
She added: “Join me on this exciting journey to push through new boundaries together.”
This move, which many speculate is a step towards launching a solo career following the band’s split from YG, follows fellow bandmates Jennie Kim’s launch of her agency ODD ATELIER and Kim Ji-soo’s Blissoo.
Her third bandmate, Rose (real name Roseanne Park) also signed with THEBLACKLABEL and Atlantic Records ahead of releasing her debut solo project, Rosie, last year.
The girls are still a united front as Blackpink, but having their own individual agencies will give them the chance to branch out solo in the future. For now, the foursome are together and gearing up to wow ffans on a global tour later this year.
However, Lisa might find some parts of the tour tough. In her 2020 Netflix documentary, Blackpink: Light Up The Sky, she confessed that she often feels lonely and struggles with being away from her family in Thailand.
She shared: “I had to keep fighting. I had to give it my all. I didn’t care about how long it would take. I said, ‘Bring it on! I don’t care anymore! ”But for those fans, affectionately known as ‘Blink’, who believe being in a K-pop girl band is all fun and singing, Lisa has some real talk – the monthly performance evaluations were notoriously ruthless, particularly in her early days.”
There would be times when I’d say, ‘I just want to go back to school’,” she remembered.
“Our debut plans kept being pushed back and back, and I couldn’t see the end of this. ‘When was this going to end? Do we have to get tested every single month?
‘”When I told her, ‘I want to quit,’ my mom would say, ‘Think about your situation. How many kids want to be in your place? If you give up and come home, do you think you can have a normal life? You’re just going to try again. You’re here now, just hold on until the end.”
Lisa had a joy-filled childhood, attending dance classes from the tender age of five. Surprisingly, acting wasn’t her cup of tea initially. She confessed: “I hated acting. I was a baby trying to memorise lines, but I didn’t know how to read! How could I memorise lines?”
Fast forward to today, and Lisa is confidently delivering lines for the hit show The White Lotus with perfection. In the series, she portrays a hotel employee who greets guests and performs traditional Thai dances, though fans are still waiting to learn more about her character.
She revealed to Elle that she was moved to tears when she discovered she’d landed the role.
“I was with my friends, my mom’s friends, and my mom as well, but I didn’t tell them that I auditioned for it.
‘I’m super excited and nervous because it’s my first acting project. So I was happy for a second, and then I was like, ‘Oh, wait, wait, how am I going to deliver this?’
“It’s pretty new to me, but I think it’s similar to shooting music videos… I’m excited for my fans to see it.
“I feel like people are going to fall in love with Thailand even more.”