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KPop Demon Hunters star EJAE just might be performing at the Academy Awards. First, she has some stage fright to work through.
“There’s definitely been talks of having ‘Golden’ performed. The thought of that is kind of incredibly nerve wracking, because I have really bad stage fright,” EJAE, 34, tells PEOPLE with a laugh, as she and KPop Demon Hunters co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans discuss the Netflix movie’s two nominations at the 2026 Oscars for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song, which went to “Golden.”
“I’ve been trying my best to overcome that stage fright, but I think the Oscars is a whole different level of stage fright,” says EJAE, who cowrote the hit song with Mark Sonnenblick.
“She asked us if we’d perform it, so we’re going to step in,” Appelhans jokingly adds. “It’s what the fans are asking for.”
The movie’s nominations cap off an awards season that has seen KPop Demon Hunters win two awards each at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards earlier this month. The movie and its soundtrack are also up for four Grammy Awards at the Feb. 1 recording industry awards ceremony.
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“It is, first of all, very surreal. I feel very honored and grateful, but it’s weirdly pushing me more to work harder,” EJAE, who cowrote a number of the movie’s songs and provides the singing voice for the character Rumi in the movie, says of the film’s Oscar nominations. “I feel more energized for what’s to come and [it’s] so inspiring because you’re amongst such incredible artists and incredible writers and filmmakers.”
“I did come in as a songwriter. I didn’t even think I’d be a singer. And to be singing also is insane,” she adds. “But also seeing people in the film industry who are editors or costume designers and talking to all of them and seeing their vision, it’s really, really inspiring and I just feel so grateful to be amongst everybody.”
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Netflix
The movie has captured the imaginations of tens of millions of fans who have made it Netflix’s most-watched animated movie ever and even found its way into the lips of A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio, whom lip-readers caught discussing the movie in an animated clip from the Golden Globes on Jan. 11.
“It’s just amazing to now be part of that history, to have a film that we work so hard on being recognized by, by at first the fans, but now, the industry,” Kang says of the movie’s Oscar recognition. “It’s really great. It feels good.”
Conan O’Brien is returning to host the Oscars live on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming on Hulu. (Starting in 2029, the award show will air on YouTube.)
