Even if he doesn’t take the Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical statuette home, this weekend’s Golden Globe Award nominee Lee Byung-hun has already made history. That’s because he’s the first Korean star to be recognized in that particular category, for his top-tier work in director Park Chan-wook’s satirical thriller No Other Choice. It’s quite a run he’s on, after previously being part of Netflix’s most-watched series, Squid Game‘, and the streamer’s most-watched movie, KPop Demon Hunters.
In conversation with Variety ahead of the 83rd Golden Globes, which is hosted by Nikki Glaser once again and will air on CBS and Paramount+ tonight (January 11), Byung-hun recalled finding out about his historic nomination via a friend.
“I was sleeping. And my Korean friend texted me. That’s how I found out, but it was like dreaming, because I was sleeping! It was fantastic. And I was so happy but I’m trying to be satisfied only with the nomination, because acting is not about winning or losing. Everybody has their own value. So whatever it is I’m trying to enjoy that day, and it’s going to be my first experience at the Golden Globes. And I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of great moviemakers and actor friends.”
Jesse Plemons (for Bugonia), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), George Clooney (Jay Kelly), and Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) stand in his path to victory, but was he a fan of any of those titles?
“I liked One Battle After Another and Train Dreams. In Train Dreams, there is this deep pain in that film that sort of continues from the beginning to the end. And it’s a little bit hard to put [into] words, but it’s almost as if a needle is kind of pricking you throughout the film. It’s not like there’s a huge climax or it makes you sob necessarily, but it’s really like that consistency of that feeling was really notable to me.”
MovieWeb reviews Park Chan-wook’s Black Comedy ‘No Other Choice’
When it comes to the best movies that 2025 had to offer, No Other Choice is right up there. Just ask MovieWeb reviewer Juan Barquin, who wrote:
No Other Choice is as pitch-black a comedy as they come, reveling in the messiness of murder and the skewed morals of what is and isn’t right when your life (and the lives of others) depends on it. That dark tone is bound to be off-putting for some, unable to grapple with the playfulness with which Park presents monstrous actions, but that indulgence in cruelty is part of the point.
Everything about No Other Choice feels like Park having a field day with his work. His sense of humor pairs with the way he interrogates moral conundrums, never once being ashamed to laugh at (or with) something even when it is being presented in earnest (like his sincere, if occasionally deranged, romances like The Handmaiden and Decision to Leave in recent years).
Most delightful of all here is the way his style continues to evolve, his formal playfulness feeling looser than ever. His usual stylistic flourishes – seemingly always determined to discover new ways to present a joke through a simple cut or finding beauty in a minute moment through an inspired transition or a dissolve between scenes – are less tied to character emotions or underscoring narrative beats in this picture and more for the sake of just looking cool.
- Release Date
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September 24, 2025
- Runtime
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139 minutes
- Writers
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Don McKellar, Lee Kyoung-mi, Donald E. Westlake, Lee Ja-hye, Park Chan-wook
- Producers
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Michèle Ray-Gavras, Miky Lee, Back Ji-sun, Alexandre Gavras, Oh Hyeon-am, Park Chan-wook
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Lee Byung-hun
Yoo Man-soo
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