KPop Demon Hunters star Ejae is opening up in regards to the second Leonardo DiCaprio left her so nervous that she missed the mark throughout a BAFTA efficiency.
The singer-songwriter says the Oscar winner’s severe expression and intense stare threw her off as she carried out in entrance of a room filled with Hollywood’s greatest stars.
Ejae, the breakout singing voice behind the character Rumi in Netflix’s record-breaking hit KPop Demon Hunters, blamed Leonardo DiCaprio’s demeanor for the rationale she was fully thrown off-key throughout a efficiency on the BAFTAs.
Talking in a candid interview with The Times, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter confessed that her efficiency on the BAFTA Movie Awards earlier this yr nonetheless “haunts” her, pointing on to a shock staring contest with the Oscar winner because the perpetrator behind her vocal errors.
“The BAFTAs hang-out me,” she instructed the information outlet. “I made errors. I cracked somewhat bit on the excessive notes. Leonardo DiCaprio was [in the audience] proper in entrance of me, and he was not smiling.”
Ejae Remembers The Second DiCaprio Threw Her Off
The awkward second occurred as Ejae needed to hit a excessive observe whereas delivering a live rendition of the music “Born To Be” along with her HUNTR/X groupmates, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI.
She casually glanced into the gang, solely to lock eyes with the Titanic star, whose seemingly unimpressed look affected her.
“That’s what put me off,” she recalled with fun. “He made me so nervous. It was already so nerve-racking to be in entrance of all these celebrities, after which I lookup and lock eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio? Come on.”
Ejae’s BAFTA Slip-Up Can’t Gradual Her Award-Profitable Run
Regardless of the transient hiccup at London’s Royal Competition Corridor, the minor vocal crack couldn’t dampen the success of KPop Demon Hunters.
The movie has since gone on to smash streaming information and turn into Netflix’s most-watched authentic film in historical past, whereas “Golden,” co-written by Ejae, swept awards season, profitable Greatest Unique Tune at each the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.
It additionally gained a Grammy for Greatest Tune Written for Visible Media, making historical past as the primary Ok-pop music to win a Grammy, per the BBC.
Ejae Reveals The Surreal Actuality Of Her KPop Demon Hunters Fame
Elsewhere in her interview with The Times, Ejae mirrored on her rise to worldwide stardom over the previous yr and expressed immense gratitude for what she has achieved.
“I do know [this kind of success] occurs; I simply didn’t suppose it will occur to me,” she stated. “I had no inkling in any respect that KPop Demon Hunters could be as massive because it grew to become. I did suppose it is likely to be large as a result of the story was so cool, however you by no means know. Previously yr I’ve lived 5 lives. It doesn’t cease. Who does this multi function yr?”
She even revealed that she found Beyoncé and Jay-Z are massive followers of hers after assembly them on the Oscars.
“I used to be at their afterparty, and Jay-Z got here as much as me and stated, ‘Hello, my title’s Shawn,’” she recounted. “I used to be past starstruck. Beyoncé is my idol, and she or he stated, ‘You’ve got an unbelievable voice.’ I requested her, ‘Are you aware Golden?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, my women sing it.’”
Requested what the draw back to her meteoric rise is, she stated, “The one factor is that I can’t go to onsens [hot springs] anymore since you’re totally bare entering into. It’s nonetheless loopy to me. I used to be a no one, and out of the blue I’m a one thing.”
DiCaprio Names The Two Co-Stars Who Left Him Awestruck
In the meantime, DiCaprio has beforehand spoken about how two actresses had a similarly strong effect on him to the one he had on Ejae when he was beginning out in his profession.
In a 2025 profile with TIME, he revealed that he was starstruck by actresses Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, each of whom featured alongside him within the 1996 movie Marvin’s Room.
DiCaprio instructed the information outlet that he was “awed by” each Streep and Keaton, however he “liked Keaton particularly.”
“She had probably the most unbelievable snicker,” the actor stated about his fondness for Keaton, who died from pneumonia in October 2025 on the age of 79.
“It might echo by means of your entire set, and she or he made you’re feeling just like the funniest particular person on the earth. I imply, burst-out-loud laughing. I’ll always remember it. I form of lived to make her snicker day-after-day on set, as a result of it was so infectious. She was unbelievable,” he added.
