Dannyka Manangan

Arden Cho reveals she initially auditioned for a different role in 'KPop Demon Hunters' before being cast as Rumi

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

KPop Demon Hunters voice actors Ahn Hyo-seop and Arden Cho recently made their first guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.In the said interview, Arden revealed that she initially auditioned for another character and not for the lead, Rumi, in the animated film.&quot;It&#x27;s pretty wild. I actually auditioned for Celine. And I remember it was August 2022, I just sent a simple voice note. Sounded cool KPop Demon Hunters. I like K-Pop. I like demon hunting. So why not? And then I didn&#x27;t hear anything,&quot; she recalled.A year later, Arden then was invited for a call back and to her surprise, it&#x27;s for the role of Rumi. &quot;About a year later I got an email that was like, &#x27;Hey would you like to come in for a call back for Rumi?&#x27; And I was like, &#x27;Wait, the lead?&#x27; Would I like to? I mean of course. I booked a ticket and I flew in from Korea. I was on vacation in Korea so flew in, came in to Sony. We had like an hour-long session and then a month later I was working,&quot; she shared.Meanwhile, Hyo-seop was asked how he felt reading the script of KPop Demon Hunters for the first time.&quot;When I first saw the title KPop Demon Hunters I thought okay this could be very interesting or very weird because I&#x27;ve never seen KPop and demon hunting at the same time anywhere,&quot; he quipped.The actor remarked that he felt the story would deliver an inspiring message to young people. &quot;So when I first read the script I just thought it was really fun, very playful, and also it had a really good message so I thought the kids would definitely love it. And I was a big fan of animation as a kid,&quot; he said. &quot;I know how impactful it is for kids to have these kind of meaningful animations and to be able to be on the other side to give back the message to kids, it just felt really special.&quot;<div> </div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DTb_qOoDd-w/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A11027851.800000012%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div> </div>Back in December 2025, Netflix announced that KPop Demon Hunters reached 500 million views since it premiered on their platform.The animated movie centers on Huntr/x, a K-pop trio juggling their superstar lives with a hidden mission which is battling demons. Their double life takes a dangerous turn when they clash with the Saja Boys, a rival boy group whose members are revealed to be actually demons.Aside from Arden and Hyo-seop, the animated film features EJAE, Andrew Choi, May Hong, Audrey Nuna, Ji-young Yoo, Rei Ami, Joel Kim Booster, Kevin Woo, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, Lee Byung-hun, and Lea Salonga, among others.The movie is directed by Maggie Kang.The animated film recently won Best Animated Feature at the 31st Critics&#x27; Choice Awards and 83rd Golden Globe Awards.In an August 2025 interview with The Playlist, Arden shared her reaction to the film&#x27;s success.&quot;It&#x27;s so interesting because it&#x27;s sort of like happening as we speak, but I also feel like it just feels so natural and easy because it&#x27;s easy to talk about a project I love. It&#x27;s easy to have conversations with people that I feel like you genuinely love the movie, and it just makes people feel good. And I know that&#x27;s why I became an actor. I became an actor because I love stories. I love storytelling. I want people to feel good, and I want us to escape from the stress and sadness of life and have a moment of joy. I feel so lucky to have been almost re-inspired to want to continue this grind,&quot; she stated.

Arden Cho and Ahn Hyo-seop shared details of their journey on being part of 'KPop Demon Hunters.'

Arden Cho and Ahn Hyo-seop shared details of their journey on being part of 'KPop Demon Hunters.'