The Stars of ‘KPop Demon Hunters' on Spotlighting Korean Representation in Animation
Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo star as the girl group Huntrix in Sony Pictures Animation's new feature, coming to Netflix June 20.
After the massive box-office triumph of the Spider-Verse films, Sony Pictures Animation is back with a brand-new hero team-up animated adventure called KPop Demon Hunters. The feature film, which drops on Netflix June 20, follows a girl group named Huntrix who must balance their skyrocketing superstardom with moonlighting as demon hunters, saving the world using the power of music and magical girl action to protect their fans from an impending demonic invasion.
Ahead of its streaming release, io9 spoke to Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo—the voices behind the Huntrix's trio Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—to reflect on the thrill of staring in the film, the importance of meaningful Asian representation in animation, and the unique challenge of bringing its titular down-to-earth, demon-hunting pop stars to life.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: What drew you to starring in KPop Demon Hunters? Were there any elements about the movie's story or characters that immediately gripped you as actors?
Arden Cho: Initially, I just loved the idea. I love K-pop and I'm all about three cool, awesome, badass leads who are Asian American—Korean American to be specific. I loved the story and I was so excited just to be a part of it.
May Hong: I like how tough Mira is, but how vulnerable she actually really is. How sensitive she is. How loyal she is, and I very much relate to that. That really drew me in.
Ji-young Yoo: I'm a big fan of K-pop, and I love doing voice over work so this was the best of both worlds. The more I found out about it, the more I thought it would be so much fun. I mean, from the title alone, anytime I tell my friends the name of the movie, they always start smiling, and I think that's indicative of how fun the film is.
io9: As advertised on the tin.
Yoo: Yes!
io9: Did you draw inspiration from different K-Pop groups or supernatural shows while preparing for your roles in KPop Demon Hunters? Were there any specific performances or series that helped you bring your characters to life?
Cho: For Rumi, I was focusing more on just her experience. She just goes through so much through the movie. She's going through a lot of things. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's a big journey for her. I was focusing a lot on who she was not only as a friend, a sister to the girls, but a leader, and also a slayer. I grew up loving so many shows that are sort of in that world of strong females—Buffy the Vampire Slayer was literally my favorite, always—and so I feel in a sense [that] I wanted Rumi to be very strong and grounded. But also sweet and cute. We can't take credit for the music stuff because we're not in that part of the girls, but I definitely wanted her to be as cool as Blackpink, Aespa, Le Sserafim, and everybody. It exceeded my expectations. But I feel like I didn't do much for that. I can't really take credit for that. I feel like that was the world that was created for us.
Hong: I thought a lot about Sailor Moon. I grew up watching it and I was so excited to see it and doing the comps of who everyone is, too. Whenever we would play Sailor Moon, I always wanted to be Sailor Jupiter.
Cho: Wait, that's so fitting.
Hong: I know, and I feel like Mira is a different version of Sailor Jupiter. I think the inspiration—they're hidden identities—I think it's funny that they transform and they look exactly the same but just [have] different outfits. I feel like Cowboy Bebop was a huge inspiration for me. I think about it a lot, and how much that music is so fully integrated into the story, and how crucial it is to sound and look like that. It feels like a perfect merger of those two things.
Yoo: I don't know if I had specific things that I did research into because I think this is such an original tone. You didn't really need to pull references. But as I began to talk about it with my friends more, I realized that there were things in the back of my head that were floating around and definitely influencing it. I grew up on Totally Spies and Kim Possible. I would say that Zoey has got a little bit of Starfire from Teen Titans—the original show, not Teen Titans Go. I'm a big fan of BTS, so that's always in the back of my head.
Actually, I had a really funny conversation with a friend where he asked me if [KPop Demon Hunters] was anything like Jujutsu Kaisen. Which it kind of is. We're exorcising demons, but tonally not nearly as dark. I'm such a fan of the show that I wondered if it affected my performance at all. I don't think I'll ever know consciously. Maybe people can watch the movie and let me know.
io9: KPop Demon Hunters brilliantly captures both the stunning beauty of the idol scene and the gremlin nature of the three girls, where they get chibi and very animated at each other. Was this distinct animation style where you had to do the voiceover afterwards, or did you do the voiceover and Sony Pictures animated their expressions to match yours during production?
Cho: I remember my first few sessions, we just did the voice, and they'd film us. So I did feel a little shy.
Hong: (Laughs)The internal video, like, where is that?
Cho: (Laughs) Yeah, I'm like showing up to work in my pajamas, no makeup on. All these cameras are set up and I'm like, 'Oh no, wait what's happening!' They're like, 'Oh no no, it's just for art!' and I'm like, 'Yes… art.'
Yoo: (Laughs) I'm guessing that the chibi style was always a part of the plan, but there were definitely moments where I'd finish a line reading and they'd be like, 'We should note that take. Whatever face she was doing was perfect' and I was like 'I don't know if I like that.'
Cho: I feel like the animation, the weirder, the uglier, it was so perfect. That's what makes it fun. We don't have to feel shy about it even though I felt shy in the beginning and then I got used to it.
Yoo: I guess the answer is we don't know. Probably. Kind of. Maybe. Yes?
Hong: (Laughs) We didn't see anything. We just scream, and they would take videos that were used.
Cho: We don't know. We just show up and they make it awesome. I know the eating stuff I'd always feel so silly too. The funny eating noises I'd struggle with those. Some of those are hard. I ate a lot and they wanted more funnier (mouth noises), but when you're actually eating, you don't make those sounds to make it more fun.
Hong: (Laughs) Speak for yourself.
Yoo: (Laughs) Yeah, I was gonna say that sounds exactly like how I eat.
io9: Were there any funny, memorable bloopers that happened during your recording sessions?
Yoo: Too many to count, man.
Hong: A lot of running to be out of breath. I think I felt the most goofy probably doing laps or I'd need to genuinely do three more laps to sound out of breath. But then everyone is watching me run in circles for a while.
Cho: All the action stuff was pretty silly and fun. Rumi has some romantic things that are cute. In the voiceover world, you're doing it all alone, so you feel super awkward. But it's awesome and it comes together so beautifully.
Hong: Oh, also the bar. There's a little guardrail that's in front of the mic. I'd hold it and run in place. It's almost like an exercise.
Cho: Oh yeah. I was jumping on that and holding on for dear life the whole time.
Yoo: It almost looks like a mini ballet bar and they'd put it in front of the mic and you can use it to lean on. I climbed on top of it.
Hong: Who would have thought of that. Genius.
Yoo: Voiceover is kind of one big blooper.
Cho: It really is. The days where you're eating a ton and doing all the fun sounds and then after you're doing a lot of jumping around action and you're like, 'Oh no, that was too soon. That's why they say don't go swimming right after eating.' It was all fun.
io9: How meaningful is it for you to be part of a Sony Pictures Animated film that aimed to go beyond the surface-level appeal of K-pop and action to authentically highlight Korean roots in its storytelling?
Cho: It's so special that they are so respectful to the Korean culture in the food, the city, and the world. It's so magical to see how big and beautiful it's been created in the world of KPop Demon Hunters. It's also really cool to see these young women who, yes, they're Korean, but they're also just girls struggling with things that are very, well, normal, but not normal. Normal if demons were—well maybe they are here?
Hong: (Laughs) Are they in the room with us?
Cho: (Laughs) You know how people have their demons? The metaphor.
Hong: (Laughs) Yes. I love the universal pain and suffering of it all. At first I was, 'Is this Korean?' It felt like it hit some chords for me, but then it was 'This is just everyone.'
Cho: It definitely hit those identity battles and the whole, 'Who am I really? Am I hiding something?' The struggles that Rumi goes through, in an odd way, I related to so much being Korean American. I feel like that in itself is so relatable, but also so special because it's something that involves so much of our culture, history, story, and where we come from.
Hong: And it also makes Seoul look so glorious, and it is glorious. Though fictionalized, hopefully, it makes people more interested in actually going.
io9: If KPop Demon Hunters were to receive a sequel, what would you love to explore about your characters in the future?
Yoo: When the movie comes out, I do actually have a very specific pitch that I've already told [directors] Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans about. For Zoey, some of the stuff she's going through being the only Asian American in the group [where] she feels out of place some of the time, which I think is very resonate with anyone. I would love to see her find a place where she doesn't feel like she needs to please as much. She spends a lot of her energy trying to make sure everyone else is okay, and I want Zoey to check in on whether Zoey is okay. Maybe that's the sequel.
KPop Demon Hunters premieres on Netflix June 20.
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