[OSENWORLD] Lee Byung-hun has opened up about his deep concerns over AI in filmmaking, recalling moments that left him amazed and alarmed.
“I once showed a colleague a funny video I’d found, only for them to say, ‘That’s not me,’” Lee said during an interview in Seoul on Sept. 24. “I was stunned. Later, I even saw AI videos of myself — especially during Squid Game. At first it seemed incredible, but then I felt a wave of fear. ‘What does this mean for us? For the future of movies?’”
The actor added that conversations about AI are now common among colleagues. “If a director asks AI for a script in a certain genre, it can deliver. The same with music. The Hollywood strike over AI is not a distant issue. They’re already working through solutions, and we need to as well. If we just sit back, everything could be overtaken before we know it.”
Lee also reflected on the insecurities facing many in the industry. “Right now, I’m in a fortunate position where I can choose my projects, but many actors around me are not. That anxiety is everywhere. Even now, I haven’t chosen my next role. There’s always uncertainty.”
He made the remarks while promoting his latest film, No Other Choice (directed by Park Chan-wook, distributed by CJ ENM, produced by Moho Film and CJ ENM Studios). The film follows Man-su, a man who loses his job and is forced to fight for his family and his home. Adapted from Donald Westlake’s novel The Axe and Costa-Gavras’s film The Ax, it has already screened in competition at Venice, opened the Busan International Film Festival, and been invited to Toronto and New York. It has also been selected as South Korea’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Academy Awards.
In 2025 alone, Lee has showcased remarkable range — from No Other Choice to Squid Game Seasons 2 and 3, the Netflix animated feature K-Pop Demon Hunters, and films The Match and King of Kings.
No Other Choice opened in Korean theaters on Sept. 24.
/k_inside@osen.co.kr
Courtesy of BH Entertainment
