Kevin Woo: From K-Pop Star To ‘K-Pop: Demon Hunter’ Star

Hollywood & EntertainmentKevin Woo: From K-Pop Star To ‘K-Pop: Demon Hunter’ StarByJoan MacDonald, Contributor

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights

Joan Vos MacDonald is a New York-based writer who covers Korean media

Huntr/x is a girl group that fights demons and Saja Boys is a boy group whose singers really are demons

The animated film debuted in June and quickly reached the number one spot on the Netflix global movie charts

Songs performed by the film’s fictional idol groups asc the music charts, outpacing songs by actual k-pop groups

Yet despite the film’s focus on k-pop idols there’s only one actual k-pop idol singing on the film’s soundtrack

Kevin Woo, who voices the cute-but-demonic Mystery Saja, performed with the k-pop band U-Kiss for almost a decade

The American singer-songwriter and actor is known to his fans simply as Kevin

He grew up in California and he was only 15 when he moved to South Korea to pursue his dream. “Growing up there as an Asian American boy I didn’t see myself in the media,” said Kevin. “I’ve always had a huge dream of becoming a singer, a performer

I thought going to Korea and I was deeply obsessed with Korean music

It wasn't even titled k-pop then, it was just Korean music

Because of my love for the music, I had this yearning to go to my motherland and start my career there

For a little kid at the age of 15, it was a huge step for me to go from the U

He performed with U-Kiss until 2017 and also hosted the interactive music talk show After School. “I did my whole run in my boy band U-Kiss, which was an amazing journey," said Kevin. "It was one of the most thrilling journeys of my career to be a part of this k-pop international idol group

After I departed from the group I really wanted to expand my horizons

I’ve always had the dream to perform in my country, the U

That's what brought me to LA. ” MORE FOR YOU Since his return to the U

He’s taken part in several k-pop-related jects

Before voicing Mystery Saja, he made his Broadway debut in the musical KPOP, the “first ever Korean story to be told on Broadway,” and acted in Anderson

Paak’s soon-to-be-released film K-POPS

Representing k-pop and Korean culture as part of KPOP made him ud to be Korean American

More ud moments would as he watched k-pop grow into a global phenomenon and saw Korean content succeed in film, on TV and in musicals

Another career and cultural milestone was performing in the Tony award-winning musical Maybe Happy Ending when it opened in Tokyo. "That too was a huge milestone for Korean ductions,” said Kevin. “Maybe Happy Ending is a Korean story

It was written by a Korean writer and it was a Korean duction

And now to see that on Broadway is so incredible. ” Kevin also plays a pop star in KPOPS, the directorial debut of singer, songwriter and record ducer Anderson. “KPOPS premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024,” said Kevin. ‘It made its U

This movie will hit theaters in January and, yeah, Anderson

Paak made a film kind of his life

It’s a fictional story, but a lot of the events that happened in the movie mirror his life story and his real life son acts alongside him. ” In KPOPS his character participates in a competition show

Paak’s character is a drummer in the same competition. “It’s a family friendly comedy movie that’s bridging cultures,” said Kevin. “This one is cross-cultural bridging black culture and Korean culture with music

The whole theme is love and family and really finding your journey as an individual

So, even if you’re not a k-pop fan, there's so many different themes that audiences can resonate with

It was a big hit at both TIFF and Tribeca. ” He was very surprised when Ian Eisendrath, the executive music ducer of K-Pop: Demon Hunters, reached out to him for his musical input. “I was beyond thrilled that Ian reached out," said Kevin. "He said, do you want to be one of the members as a singing voice for this fictional boy band called Saja Boys

I didn’t know too much the script

I hadn’t had the chance to read the screenplay, but I immediately knew this was the right fit for me

I was ‘demon boy band and k-pop,’ I’m in

He sent over the songs ‘Soda Pop’ and ‘Your Idol. ’ Ian wanted to hear my back on what I felt it as a k-pop idol. ” On hearing the songs Kevin knew he wanted to perform them

The music has every element of what he loves k-pop. ‘It was so nostalgic too because it brought back a lot of the memories that I had in U-Kiss,” he said. “All the little nuances that I have firsthand experience with, it was all incorporated into these two songs

It really perfectly portrayed why k-pop is so beloved around the world

That brought me back to the idols that I grew up listening to,” It was a unique experience watching himself as an animated character

It was also his first time working as a voice actor, except for a short stint where he played a boy band member in the Apple TV series Central Park. ‘This was a different take on the cess of recording because I got to see the characters and I had to really get into character for Mystery Saja,” he said. "But seeing the sketch of the characters, I was, oh my God, this is so incredibly cute

He double checked the screen to make sure it was the right number. “I got an alert saying your growth is a thousand percent

I’m, what does that even mean

Because I believed in this soundtrack, I already knew this was going to be a hit, but I didn’t know it was going to be instant, viral. ” Saja Boys recently made music history by becoming the first male k-pop group to hit number one on U. “I’ve been hearing from my friends and my family just constantly notifying me that my songs Soda Pop and Your Idol are rising on the charts,” he said

It’s just been an incredible wild ride

I can’t really explain in words how I feel

It’s quite surreal. ” He’s happy to play a part in the success of Korean culture. “It’s an honor and a privilege for me to represent k-pop in the western world. ” What’s next

Kevin’s short film Seoul Switch a dork and a k-pop idol who trade places is currently being developed into a full-length film

He recently released a selection of new music and also plays the male lead role in the horror film Death Name, set to come out later this year

Given the success of K-Pop: Demon Hunters, anything is possible

K-Pop: Demon Hunters airs on Netflix

This interview was edited for length and clarity

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