Who are the real-life voices behind Huntr/x?
With songs from "KPop Demon Hunters" topping charts and amassing award nominations, let's get to know the voices behind the trio
In "KPop Demon Hunters," the singing voices for Zoey, Rumi, and Mira are voiced by Rei Ami, Ejae and Audrey Nuna, respectively.
Courtesy of Netflix
Words by Andy Crump
Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, the devil-slaying K-pop star protagonists in Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang’s relentless Netflix smash hit, KPop Demon Hunters, resemble nesting dolls, as characters and as roles. On the outside, they’re the internationally beloved pop group Huntr/x. Beneath that veneer, they’re guardians against ancient infernal forces. In dialogue, they’re voiced by Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-Young Yoo, respectively; in musical numbers, they’re voiced by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami (also respectively). Spotlights shone on the film, as art as well as a cultural event, tend to center the former group over the latter, even though they’re heard in nearly equal measure throughout.
With the 51st season premiere of Saturday Night Live, that spotlight has expanded. In a sketch where Sarah Squirm, Chloe Fineman, Mikey Day, and host Bad Bunny catch up over brunch, it isn’t Cho, Hong, or Yoo occupying Bad Bunny’s thoughts, but Ejae, Nuna, and Ami. While the others comment on subjects like Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad and praise films like Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Bad Bunny grows increasingly irate at their ignorance of KPop Demon Hunters. (He’s hilariously convinced the whole thing is based on a true story.) At first, he only imagines the singers belting snippets of the tracks “Golden” and “How It’s Done.” But as the scene wraps, Ejae, Nuna, and Ami emerge on stage to reprise “Golden” and presumably rescue Squirm from Bowen Yang’s corrupting demonic influence.
Apportioning recognition for a movie like KPop Demon Hunters is tricky. On one hand, Cho, Hong, and Yoo embody Huntr/x in the majority of the film’s running time, shaping their characters’ temperaments while inviting viewers to make emotional investments in their arc—as a collective, yes, but as individuals, too. It’s Cho, for instance, who gives the audience a reason to care about Rumi’s identity crisis as both Huntr/x’s leader and a half-demon; it’s Hong and Yoo who distinguish Mira and Zoey, Rumi’s bandmates, as the group’s irascible scrapper (Mira) and happy-go-lucky maknae (Zoey). On the other hand, we listen to songs like “Golden” when we’re working or working out, chauffeuring our kids to and from daycare, or cooking dinner; the soundtrack lives with us outside of our experience with the movie itself.
In that regard Ejae, Nuna, and Yoo are just as vital for making the bond between KPop Demon Hunters and its fanbase as Cho, Hong, and Yoo. So it’s a shock to realize that it took nearly four months after the movie premiered on Netflix for the singers to find themselves the center of attention on a stage that’s as famous and widely broadcast as Saturday Night Live—if not because they’re just as integral for making the film work as their co-voice cast members, then because Libby Thomas Dickey, Kang and Applehan’s casting director, didn’t hire untested and unknown names to carry the film’s musical numbers. Each of them is a successful musician in her own right.
Ami, for instance, has graduated from “viral sensation” in 2020, when she featured in “Freak,” the single from rapper Sub Urban’s EP Thrill Seeker, to a core component of KPop Demon Hunters as a global phenomenon. She even worked with Russian feminist protest punk group Pussy Riot in between. That’s a significant leap from TikTok clout.
Meanwhile, Nuna’s knocked out two albums in the last four years: A Liquid Breakfast in 2021 and Trench in 2024, sandwiching Chump Change, her collaborative project with singer-songwriter Deb Never in 2022.
Most of all, Ejae has amassed a songwriting credit tally comprising tracks for South Korean girl groups including Nmixx, Billlie, Exid, Twice, and Red Velvet, plus soloists such as Nada, Hyo, Irene, and Babylon.
Individual achievements add up to collective success—from “Golden” hitting platinum and the trio’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon (both in October), to the more recent Grammy nominations, featuring five nods total for Huntr/x—not bad for a fictional band. They even performed at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Put simply, they know their way through the music industry’s trenches—necessary work experience for giving these characters aural life.
Experience isn’t the same thing as “fame,” of course. But if Ejae, Nuna, and Ami lack the same worldwide standing as K-pop’s greatest brands, a’la BLACKPINK or Girls’ Generation, it’s to their—and the characters’—benefit. Each has an established discography and personality. None enjoys the instant recognition, and thus the baggage that comes with it, of singers like BLACKPINK’s Jisoo or Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon. That’s a boon releasing them from preconceived notions about their approach to KPop Demon Hunters’ vocals and musical narrative: they’re freer to mold their performances around the characters rather than being shoehorned into giving the kind of performance that’s expected of them. As much fun as the movie is in the moments when we hear from Cho, Hong, and Yoo, Ejae, Nuna, and Ami create pulsing harmony when it’s their time to shine (like they’re born to be). Their work helps gel the plot with the characters.
KPop Demon Hunters welds Rumi’s pathos to songs like “Golden” and “What It Sounds Like,” and to “Free,” in which she duets with her adversary and unexpected kindred spirit, Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop in dialogue, Andrew Choi in song). That adds up to only 10 minutes of screentime, but each is critical for giving her plight gravity. In turn, Ejae’s performance is critical in getting the lyrics to land. Given that context, the real-life Huntr/x’s appearance on Saturday Night Live is well-deserved, even if the attention the episode pays them is a few months overdue. Ejae, Nuna, and Ami drive KPop Demon Hunters’ music, the movie’s buzziest quality; they’re the ones we hear in our earbuds and on our speakers. We keep them with us long after the movie finishes its umpteenth spin on our watch lists.
Published on December 2, 2025
Words by Andy Crump
Bostonian culture journalist Andy Crump covers movies, beer, music, fatherhood, and way too many other subjects for way too many outlets, perhaps even yours: Paste Magazine, Inverse, The New York Times, Hop Culture, Polygon, and Men's Health, plus more. You can follow him on Bluesky and find his collected work at his personal blog. He’s composed of roughly 65 percent craft beer.