- Interview Location: New York Comic Con 2026
- Interview Format: In-person, Roundtable
Unknown Outlet: How did you get involved with the movie (KPop Demon Hunters)? This is a little bit of a different role for you.
Rich Ting: I’ve been an actor and producer in Hollywood for over twenty years. That has allowed me to explore a lot of different paths in the business. So, what am I doing here, why am I associated with KPop Demon Hunters? I opened up a production company, and one of the verticals is talent management. I’ve been able to work in Korea on the acting side. Through that, I have great connections with the KPop world.
One of my first films in 2010 was with the #1 KPop artist, BoA. BoA is associated with <a href="https://www.smentertainment.com/en/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>SM Entertainment. They are the founding company of KPop in Korea. With my network there, I was able to get into contact with Andrew Choi, the lead singing voice of Jinu. I was able to plug him into some different projects I was involved with. That evolved into a manager-talent relationship. I now represent Andrew and Neckwav. Through that experience, I’ve been with Andrew since before when Huntrix debuted.
I know Maggie (Kang), I’m friends with a lot of the voice actors and actresses. I’ve seen this evolution of this global phenomenon. Through that, I’ve been next to them throughout this entire process. For me, it has been a phenomenon. Going from someone who stood in front of the camera, trying to express and share my culture through all of the roles I’ve played, where we never had a seat at the table. Trying to provide the audience a glimpse of what I’m about, what my culture is about. I’m Chinese/Japanese, and a fourth-generation American. That’s confusing right there, because I look like this.
Now, the fans want it. They are demanding culture, they are demanding K-this, K-that. To me, it is mind-blowing, to see the 180. Before we were asking to tell them a bit more about our culture. Now the fans are saying that they want it. It’s been fantastic to have a first-person view for this journey.
The Culture Collective: What went through your mind seeing KPop represented on the Oscar stage and seeing audiences around the world connect with these characters?
Rich Ting: Two things. One, like I just mentioned, it is going from the late ‘90s, early 2000s, even mid-2000s. We had no seats. When I say “we,” I’m talking about Asian and Asian-American leading men. We didn’t have seats at the table. We were trying to convince people that we could play a role. We could play a police officer, we could play a firefighter.
I grew up in California. I’ve seen Asian-American first responders. I’ve obviously seen Asian-American dads, husbands, boyfriends. But yet, we never fulfilled those roles on TV or in movies. And if those roles ever were available back in the day, they went to Asia and got whoever was the biggest superstar in Hong Kong at that time. They never looked in their backyard.
Seeing a movie like KPop Demon Hunters, where it’s the flip. Now the fans demand it. They want it. I’ll give you a quick anecdote on the side. I do a ton of voice acting, as well. From animations, to TV shows, to movies, as well as dubbing. I can speak Korean, even though I am not Korean. I speak Chinese, I speak Japanese. I would think, as an Asian-American voice actor, that you would want some authenticity with the accent. We can speak in a Western American accent in English, but then when you say a certain word, you would want to hear it the way it’s authentically pronounced. But now, a lot of streamers will say, “No, we want it in a Western American accent.”
That’s fine. We’ve gone from that, which was painful to say, to the point where we are now revisiting shows I’ve done years ago. We’re not only saying it with an accent, but we’re replacing the English words with the actual words in that language. What I mean by that is we’re calling Korean foods by their real names. We’re not saying “rice porridge.” The global audience doesn’t know what that is. But they know what the Korean word is.
To me, to see that happen in front of me, and with me being the person who did the original version. Now, I am going back to remix it. It’s mind-blowing. I think it all stems from being authentic. And I know that word is overused. Instead of trying to conform, trying to be more Western, it’s gone in the opposite direction where we’re just going to be true to our culture. That is what has sold.
SWO Productions: Was there a moment you realized it was going to be the phenomenon it ended up becoming?
Rich Ting: Having been on a few Netflix productions myself, I kind of know the behind the scenes, regarding the press, the media, the marketing side. Whether it is HBO, whatever. When word got out that they were going to release it on the platform, I had an instinct, “This is either going to be crazy in a good way, or it is going to be a failure.” I don’t think that was strategic. I think it was one hundred percent budget related.
I’ve seen it with other shows. If you talk to Andrew (Choi), if you talk to Neckwav. If you talk to Arden Chow, the voice actress for Rumi, she’s a good friend of mine, they all tell the same story. They had no idea. If anything, I can speak for my artists Andrew and Neckwav, they kind of forgot about it. They did the recordings, they did these catchy songs, and then they forgot about it.
Neckwav will tell you a story. He didn’t even know which character he was playing until it got released. They wouldn’t tell him. They told him he had pink hair. Well, there are two characters with pink hair. He had to watch the film to see which character was his based on the music.
No one had an expectation. If we think back to last year, Huntrix didn’t debut until October of last year. The film was released in June. They weren’t ready to debut. It was a cultural phenomenon.
(Editor’s note: I believe he was referring to theJimmy Fallon interviewas the debut of Huntrix.)
BET/Hot 97: What do you thinkKPop Demon Huntersunderstands about KPop culture that made it resonate with people who aren’t traditional KPop fans?
Rich Ting: I touched on it a little bit earlier. I think it goes back to the cultural authenticity. There are so many global fans, even Korean Americans, that are so American that they are not intertwined with the culture from the motherland. Things that the global audience connects to are authentic, and they don’t even know that it is authentic. I’ll give you a perfect example.
There are a group of old women in the film. They are fans. In Korean, they are called ajummas. These fans exist. I have a lot of personal friends who are huge idols in Korea. I’ve been to their concerts, I’ve been on stage with them. There is a front row of these women, who are probably in their sixties or older. They are diehard fans. The fact that they are able to put this demographic into an animated film and give them this representation that really is there. We laugh and think they are cute. They’re real. The food is real.
I’ll give you another example. The manager. That’s a manager. When I saw the character, I started laughing because my manager in Korea is identical. I’m not trying to be racist or stereotypical. I’m just saying he looks identical to my manager. All of these things are so real, but no one knows. There’s some kind of emotional connection that exists that’s based on the realness of it.
Anime Herald: Rich told us a story that you did not know who you were playing in the movie until you saw the movie. Can you elaborate on that?
Neckwav: I did not. When I was recording “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol”, the musical director for the movie was kind enough to explain the plot and he said, “You’re the guy with the pink hair.” But there are two pink-haired Saja Boys, Romance and Abby. For the longest time, when I was recording the song, I thought I was Romance. I was wondering, “Why am I not synching with audio and visuals? Oh, nevermind, I’m the guy with the abs.”
When the movie first came out I was trying to see who I was, “Oh, I’m the dude with the abs, making people’s eyes turn into popcorn.” It was amazing. I can’t complain, I love it.
Unknown Outlet: What has the movie done for your singing career?
Neckwav: I started off as a singer, trying to make my way into becoming an artist. That didn’t work out when I first started off. I switched my career into being a songwriter for KPop. All of these boy bands and girl groups were selling out stadiums, selling records. That helps songwriters survive. The movie opened up so many doors as a songwriter.
“You’re the voice of Abby?” They recognized the voice. Maybe another songwriter was writing a song and thought that my voice might be a good fit. That opened up a lot of doors. My own music, as well. Fans are digging through the music I released years ago. Now, I am releasing more of my music. They want to hear more of Abby, so I am trying to get them into my music as well. I plan to release more singles in the future.
The Culture Collective: Has the success ofKPop Demon Huntersand your experience with it changed you as an artist or influenced the music you are making now?
Neckwav: Absolutely! It feels like I am repeating myself, but as a songwriter, you can’t complain about the genre you are making. You get leads from companies. The genres we make have to be tailored to their tastes. What we make is what they want. I realized that, since I’ve been both singing and rapping, the fans loved the deeper voice of Abby, so maybe that appeals more than my singing voice of Abby. I’ve been trying to aim for the “Your Idol” moment from the beginning of the song, as well as my verse in “Soda Pop.” Trying to see what they like, not necessarily what I like.
SWO Productions: What is the difference to you between doing voice over work versus your singing work? Did you have to adjust anything versus your regular procedure?
Neckwav: Absolutely. Normally, I would not be in a room with many people when recording. Usually, a producer who wrote the beat, and a couple of songwriters. A maximum of four or five people in the room. I don’t feel that pressure. But when I recorded for KPop Demon Hunters, Ian (Eisendrath) and the team were all in New York. There were maybe ten to fifteen people listening to me sing. That was nerve-wracking in the moment. At the same time, usually I am singing songs I wrote, so I know where to go. I can just take the key and drive.
Singing, rapping, and recording under Ian’s direction was amazing. I could see his vision, where he wanted us to go. That was amazing, getting direction from someone who has been in the industry, did amazing work for movies. This was my first movie ever. It was my first voice-acting and singing role. It was a whole new experience that changed everything that I am doing right now. It’s been really fun.
BET/Hot 97: Do you think the success of the Saja Boys says something about where pop culture is heading next?
Neckwav: Absolutely. I’ve been receiving leads from different big companies, like SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, HYBE. They are sending out leads where the reference songs, the guidance, includes our songs. People want more of “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop.” That’s been a change.
People are trying to imitate the sounds and the looks of the Saja Boys. It’s been amazing to see.
Anime Herald: What is your origin story? How did you get from there to being a Saja Boy?
Neckwav: Oh wow… I started to take my musical career seriously in 2017, 2018. I came back to Korea. I had been here for college. I came back to Korea around that time, right before COVID. I was working very closely with a Korean singer named Johan Kim, shout out to him. He was very good friends with one of the producers for KPop Demon Hunters. She urgently called him, “Do you know anyone who sings and raps in Korean and English? I need him now.”
I heard that there were so many last minute changes. I didn’t hear the details. I was just told to record “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” to audition for this. They wanted to hear my voice. Ian really liked my voice. He had me come in and record. I recorded for six or seven hours. Then I forgot about it, because it was a year before the movie came out. I was singing to stick figures. This was before the animation.
When the movie came out, my Instagram started blowing up. Next thing you know, I’m here at New York Comic Con. I was at San Diego Comic Con. It’s been incredible.
Unknown Outlet: Is there a moment that stands out as the most surreal? The Oscars or Comic Con?
Neckwav:The Oscars was something I still cannot fathom to this day. That I was on the same escalator with these celebrities that I’ve watched in movies from my iPad. Like, “What is going on in my life right now?”
It started off when I was shopping in a store in Korea with my mom. Someone stopped me and asked, “Are you one of the Saja Boys?” Surprisingly, KPop Demon Hunters is not as big here as it is in Korea. It was amazing to see. My mom asked, “Are you something big now?” I said, “I guess. I’m going to the Oscars in March.” She asked, “Wait, is this the same Oscars that we know? I said “Yes, the Oscars.” Then I went.
I think those are the two experiences that stick with me. Andrew (Choi) and I still talk about it “Did we really go to the Oscars?” It was an amazing experience.
The Culture Collective: Has this experience with voice acting changed you? Do you want to pursue more of it?
Neckwav: Absolutely. I think the reason that KPop Demon Hunters was such a huge success was the songs. They were that good, starting with “Golden” and “Soda Pop.” I think the movie and the songs worked together. I would love to be part of a movie with musical elements involved. To be completely honest, I’m a terrible actor. I’ve never tried voice acting, but in my opinion I don’t think I would be good at voice acting. But, I would love to give it a try.
Andrew and I were talking about it, “Maybe we should audition for movies with more musical elements.” We could sing and voice act at the same time. I believe Baby Saja (Danny Chung) has the same singing and acting voice. He had “Goo goo” and “gaga” lines. If it is that easy, maybe I can give it a try for a role in the future.
SWO Productions: Who are some of your musical inspirations?
Neckwav: That is so difficult. I started off listening to a lot of hip-hop and rap. I went to middle school in San Diego. The West coast hip-hop influence has been deep on me. It started with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Then, I went to high school in Boston, so there were East coast influences there. Then I went to college in Atlanta, so there was the Southern experience.
BET/Hot 97: If you had to explain the Saja Boys phenomenon, what would you say?
Neckwav: I would have to say it is an interesting KPop boy band that tries to take your soul by looking and sounding so good. They finally reveal their identities as demons with a darker song. They just have two songs. One bubbly, bright song that makes you think of them as a regular boy band. Then later, they reveal themselves as demons trying to take your souls. I would say they are a boy band with two faces.
Anime Herald: Did you know Andrew before the movie?
Neckwav: Yes. I’ve been a fan of Andrew’s since I was in college. He was in a show called KPop Star, which is like an American Idol for Korea. He was top three. I’ve practiced my singing listening to him. He’s been my go to singer that I’ve listened to. He’s had so many great KPop cuts before the movie. I think he was the only one I knew of, but I didn’t know any of them personally.
