LakshmiFor Director Park Chan-wook, No Other Choice has been a long time coming. They literally had no other choice but to collaborate with another career defining masterpiece, once again.
No Other Choice follows Yoo Man-soo (played by Lee Byung-hun), an ordinary middle-aged office worker who suddenly loses the job that has defined his life and supported his family for decades. As months of unemployment turn into years and his prospects grow increasingly bleak, desperation begins to erode his sense of morality. Faced with mounting pressure and dwindling options, Man-soo embarks on a disturbing path in pursuit of survival, transforming a seemingly ordinary man into someone capable of extraordinary acts.
Following its North American premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, No Other Choice quickly emerged as one of the year’s most talked-about films, making it to the Oscar shortlist in 2026.
Ahead of its TIFF debut, One Lash Shot had the opportunity to sit down with visionary director Park Chan-wook and veteran Korean actor Lee Byung-hun to discuss the film’s nearly two-decade journey to the screen, their long-awaited reunion, and the challenges of bringing Yoo Man-soo’s unsettling story to life.
The acclaimed filmmaker spent nearly two decades bringing the project to life after first discovering Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Ax. While the journey from page to screen stretched beyond 20 years, Park estimates that actively writing and developing the screenplay itself took approximately 15 to 17 years.
The project underwent multiple evolutions during that time. Initially conceived as an English-language film set in Canada and the United States, Park worked alongside writer Don McKellar on an early adaptation. However, recurring financing challenges repeatedly stalled development, prompting Park to focus on other projects, including Stoker, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave, and the television adaptation of The Sympathizer.
Yet despite the interruptions, the script never disappeared.
“It stayed in my post-production office for years,” Park explained, describing a project that remained close at hand even as other films came and went.
The lengthy development process ultimately led to another long-awaited reunion: Park’s first collaboration in more than two decades with actor Lee Byung-hun since their landmark thriller Joint Security Area.
While audiences may have waited 21 years to see the pair work together again, Park revealed that their friendship never experienced a similar gap.
“Since Joint Security Area, we’ve become very good friends,” Park said. “We’ve shared lots of meals together and we’ve hung out very often. Over those years, we discussed many projects that we could work on together, but there were scheduling conflicts, or I couldn’t find the right role for him. So, it took some time to get back to working together again.”
The director admitted he was surprised by how much time had passed.
“I couldn’t believe it took that long because we would hang out in casual settings throughout all those years.”
Their off-screen friendship has often been described by both men as that of longtime “drinking buddies” who have remained in regular contact since 2000, making No Other Choice feel less like a reunion and more like a collaboration whose timing had finally aligned.
Lee Byung-hun on His Unexpected Habit of Dying On-Screen
Over the course of his acclaimed career—including being honored with the Special Tribute Award at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival—Lee Byung-hun has brought to life a number of unforgettable characters whose journeys end in tragedy, from IRIS and Mr. Sunshine to Concrete Utopia.
When asked whether he deliberately gravitates toward roles that meet a fatal end, the actor laughed at the notion.
“It’s not my preference to pick roles where I end up dying,” Lee said. “It just happens to be that way. I don’t know exactly how that happened.”
For Lee, the ending matters far less than the journey.
“Whether it’s a happy ending or a sad ending, I don’t really care as long as the character is interesting to play.”
Finding the Humanity of Yoo Man-soo
In No Other Choice, Lee takes on the role of Yoo Man-soo, a seemingly ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
The challenge, he explained, was balancing the character’s everyday relatability with the increasingly extreme situation he faces.
“Simply put, Man-soo is a very typical man and the breadwinner of his household,” Lee said. “However, the situation he’s in is not typical at all.”
That contrast became the foundation of his performance.
“To work through this atypical situation, this typical man has to go through something extraordinary. His emotions change, and the way he feels about the world changes. That’s what I focused on in my acting.”
Some stories take years to find their final form. No Other Choice took nearly two decades. In many ways, the film mirrors the journey behind it: defined by patience, persistence, and unexpected turns. For Park Chan-wook and Lee Byung-hun, what began as a long-delayed reunion has become a testament to creative endurance—and proof that the most compelling collaborations often arrive precisely when they’re meant to.
[Author’s Note: 다음에는 20년이나 기다리게 하지 마세요! 두 분의 협업을 더 자주, 더 많이 보고 싶습니다.]
Lakshmi
