'KPop Demon Hunters' star Ahn Hyo-Seop on film's smash success, if Jinu could return
'I thought the story had this very special energy that made me want to be part of the whole journey,' the 30-year-old tells USA TODAY.
That journey has been a quick ride to the top. The PG-rated animated film about a K-pop girl group that uses songs and swords to save the world hit Netflix June 20 and almost immediately soared to the streamer's Top 10. Since then, its popularity has only grown, earning a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score (97%), a No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 (a rare feat for any K-pop song, let alone one from a soundtrack) and becoming Netflix's second most-watched movie in history.
For Ahn, who voices the male lead Jinu alongside female lead Rumi (Arden Cho), the underlying success of 'KPop Demon Hunters' is its message.
"Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has something they wish to hide or undo," he says. "Sometimes, the biggest obstacle isn't the world, it's ourselves, and Jinu and Rumi face that. Instead of running, they actually grow together, and I feel like that's something a lot of people can relate to."
Beyond the film's message, Ahn credits its K-pop vibe and original songs as a major feat.
"The sounds are really amazing, and it was really cool to see K-pop songs that actually touched people worldwide," he says.
'KPop Demon Hunters' marked milestones for Ahn Hyo-Seop
"KPop Demon Hunters" is Ahn's first animated film and biggest role yet, but it's not his first brush with fame. The Korean-born actor who spent part of his youth in Canada has been building a global fanbase for a decade, both as a singer and as a lead actor in some of the buzziest K-dramas including "Dr. Romantic" Season 2, "Business Proposal" and "A Time Called You."
He gravitated toward "KPop Demon Hunters" because the script "really grabbed me," he says, and presented a new challenge.
"Expressing everything through just my voice, without my facial expressions or body, it was honestly a challenge in the beginning. I had to try a lot of different tones and versions of Jinu to get there. But thankfully, with the help of directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and amazing crew, I got really comfortable."
Portraying a character like Jinu, a man-turned-demon haunted by his past, was tricky.
"Becoming a demon, it's not something you think of every day, right?" he says with a laugh. "I wasn't sure how to approach it, but as I got deeper into Jinu's backstory – his wounds, his doubts, the emotional weight he carries – I felt naturally connected to him. We all make mistakes in life, and I thought of some of my own, and that really helped me understand Jinu."
'KPop Demon Hunters' also marked Ahn's first English-language project.
"I haven't been using English for a long time (after) living in Korea for like a decade," he says. "At first, I felt pretty rusty, but English was a language that I actually studied growing up, and I always had this dream of using it to act one day. Doing this project felt like finally unlocking something inside me, like opening a box I left untouched for years."
Ahn is as excited for the future of 'KPop Demon Hunters' as the fans
Like the film's vast fanbase, Ahn is caught up in Jinu and Rumi's will-they-won't-they relationship.
"I stan them too," he says with a laugh. "I think it's about the pain and the agony that they had. I feel like it's about the company, like you can't solve your problems alone. You have to have somebody beside you, and they had the biggest connection."
While Netflix has yet to announce a sequel, there's a high likelihood at least one more film will be greenlit given its international and sustained success. Just this week, Netflix announced it will screen "KPop Demon Hunters" at select U.S. movie theaters Aug. 23-24, with many offering a sing-along experience.
So if there is a second film, will Jinu and Rumi reunite?
"I mean, Jinu gave his soul so like I never really imagined how he would come back," Ahn says. "As someone who loves Jinu as a fan too, of course I would love to see him come back. But it's not up to me."
Fans continue to show love for Jinu, with Ahn pointing out that in South Korea, people actually left flowers at Namsan Tower where the character died to mourn him.
And no matter of what happens to Jinu and Rumi, Ahn is excited for the future of "KPop Demon Hunters".
"I hope that this franchise continues to inspire people to embrace their shadows and their flaws and be able to still move forward," he says. "I'm a big fan too now, so I'll be waiting and cheering like everyone else."
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