'KPop Demon Hunters' stars May Hong, Arden Cho and Ji-young Yoo sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to dish on the success of their Netflix film. Plus, the stars express their excitement on being recognized by K-pop idols like BTS, reveal which idols could seal the Honmoon in real life and more.
00:03it just felt like my body and my brain separated.
00:08And I still can't really talk about it.
00:10I think once that happened, I went like, oh my God.
00:13When we're starting to get recognition
00:14from actual K-pop idols,
00:16that's when we've done something right.
00:18Hi, Hollywood Reporter.
00:20We're K-pop demon hunters.
00:21My name is Arden Cho.
00:23I voice Rumi.
00:24I'm Mae Hong.
00:25I voice Mira.
00:26Hi, I'm Ji Young Yoo and I play Zoey.
00:30I was done, done, done.
00:32I rewatched it probably two days ago.
00:36Just like, oh, you know, just to revisit it again.
00:38And it still is surreal to see all our voices
00:44on these amazing, badass girls.
00:48I think we've all had the conversation of like,
00:51none of us were expecting this kind of response.
00:54But I think there's a difference between a film
00:55being successful and this.
00:57Like, this is just crazy.
01:00And I think it's pretty safe
01:01to start calling this a phenomenon.
01:03And I just don't know if there's any forecaster
01:06in the world that could have guessed
01:07that there would be this level of response.
01:09And we all feel really grateful and honored.
01:11Yeah, I don't think anyone anticipated
01:13how big this would have been.
01:16The response has been incredible.
01:17I mean, we're really thankful to the fans
01:20for keeping us at number one for such a long time.
01:23I'm a really big BTS fan.
01:25So when BTS started, like, singing it on lives,
01:29like, it all felt very serendipitous to me
01:31because all of a sudden members were back basically
01:33the day the film was released on Netflix.
01:36It just felt like my body and my brain separated.
01:40And I still can't really talk about it.
01:43I think once that happened, I went like, oh, my God.
01:45When we're starting to get recognition
01:47from actual K-pop idols,
01:49that's when we've done something right.
01:51Yeah.
01:52Yeah, I think I was in Korea for a couple weeks,
01:55almost right after the release.
01:56And just seeing the response and the love
01:58from actual idols who are living this life
02:01was just incredible.
02:02And, you know, getting that stamp of approval
02:05and seeing how everyone feels so seen in the movie
02:09and just the response.
02:10Everybody's saying similar things
02:12where they're like, we related to this.
02:14I love this.
02:15I didn't even know K-pop,
02:16but now K-pop is like my life.
02:18And so I think it's just, it's been so fun.
02:22Yeah, I feel like when it really started landing for me
02:26is when I went to my first ever convention
02:30and just to see everyone waiting and lining up
02:34just to meet me, which is absurd.
02:38And this little girl made me this bracelet.
02:43And yeah, just all the little presents,
02:45all the drawings that people are making.
02:47The art is incredible.
02:48Yeah, and it's, it's, what are you talking about?
02:53I mean, like the music metrics too.
02:55I think the music metrics are maybe a little easier
02:57for me to understand the scale of
02:58because we didn't do the singing.
03:00We had incredible vocalists
03:01who did the singing for our characters.
03:03So I just feel like a really like personal cheerleader,
03:06almost of these women and the songwriters and producers.
03:09So it just continues to climb billboard charts
03:12and continues to break streaming records.
03:14And it just feels very surreal.
03:17It's hard not to just think immediately about a fictional character, honestly,
03:35rather than a real person.
03:37So, I mean, I've said this a million times now,
03:40but Sailor Jupiter.
03:42I might say Chu from Luna.
03:46She's so naturally cute.
03:48Definitely like reminds me of a real life Zoe.
03:50What songs in real life do you think would have sealed the whole moon?
03:54I think about this often.
03:56Any Beyonce song.
03:58She's definitely sealing the whole moon.
04:00Kelly Clarkson.
04:01Kelly Clarkson.
04:02Yes.
04:03Absolutely.
04:04Adele.
04:05Adele.
04:06And like, I mean, I love Blackpink and Aespa.
04:11And, you know, twice.
04:13I'm like all the girls.
04:14I'm like new jeans.
04:15I know.
04:16She's all new jeans.
04:17Yeah.
04:18And of course, BTS.
04:20And like Weezer.
04:22Oh, no, totally.
04:24Yeah.
04:25Oh, my God.
04:26But also 21.
04:27Yeah.
04:28Oh, I believe Olivia Rodrigo.
04:30Oh, yes.
04:31She could seal the whole moon for sure.
04:32Yeah.
04:33But we really have to say Huntrix right now.
04:35Right now, I feel like the album is on repeat.
04:38That soundtrack is just too good.
04:39And honestly, I mean, Golden.
04:42Golden is sealing that whole moon.
04:44Yeah.
04:45Yes.
04:46You just got such a special voice.
04:47It's so incredible.
04:48It is so, so amazing.
04:50Love y'all.
04:55And we really are fans.
04:56We really are fans?
04:57I just met Rayami two days ago.
05:00So it was kind of like a coincidence that we met.
05:04We got to chatting and she told me that she never heard any of our voices when they were recording the soundtrack.
05:10They didn't tell her who the actors were.
05:12They never got a vocal comp to match.
05:15So I think it just is more proof of how talented they are as vocalists.
05:18And then how incredible the music team and Maggie and Chris were at finding the right people, casting the right people, and then creating a sound that's so cohesive that a lot of people aren't aware yet that there are multiple people voicing the characters.
05:31It's really wonderful.
05:32Thanks for watching us on The Hollywood Reporter.
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