The ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ star says one perfectly timed glance at Leonardo DiCaprio made an already nerve-wracking BAFTAs performance even harder.
ByHelen Storms
August 13, 2026
K-Pop Demon Hunters star EJAE may have performed the viral song “Golden” in front of some of Hollywood’s most legendary stars, but there was one celebrity in particular who made it a challenge for her to keep her cool.
EJAE, whose real name is Kim Eun-jae, recently opened up about her nerve-wracking performance at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, revealing that when she locked eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio in the audience, she was thrown off at a particularly difficult moment in the song.
“The BAFTA’s haunt me,” she said while reflecting on the performance. “I made mistakes. I cracked a little bit on the high notes.”
Then came DiCaprio.
“Leonardo DiCaprio was [in the audience] right in front of me, and he was not smiling,” she recalled.
It was just coincidental that EJAE happened to look directly at the Oscar-winning actor just as she was about to attempt to hit the high note during the “born to be” part of the song.
“That’s what put me off,” she said. “He made me so nervous.”
The singer said that performing in a room full of star-studded figures was already intimidating enough before she noticed DiCaprio.
“It was already so nerve-wracking to be in front of all these celebrities, and then I look up and lock eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio? Come on,” she added.
EJAE has opened up about dealing with occasional stage fright in the past. During a February appearance on Today, she admitted she has “really bad stage fright” and discussed cracking during past performances.
DiCaprio is not the only A-list figure that the singer has come across who left her starstruck. During an afterparty event, she once met Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z. According to EJAE, Jay-Z introduced himself to her simply as “Shawn,” while Beyoncé complimented her singing.
“You have an incredible voice,” EJAE recalled Beyoncé telling her.
What meant even more to the singer was finding out that Beyoncé knew her hit song “Golden.”
“Yeah, my girls sing it,” Beyoncé told her.
