EXO’s Sehun And Baekhyun Reveal How They Were Discovered And Signed To SM
On a recent episode of Happy Together, EXO’s Sehun and Baekhyun revealed the story of how they were discovered and signed to SM Entertainment.
Sehun began by explaining that it happened when he was in elementary school. He was eating some tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and was about to leave when a few women started running up to him.
“A group of women started running towards me saying, ‘Hey kid, wait wait!'”
ㅡ Sehun
The women were apparently casting managers who wanted to cast Sehun as they asked him for his mother’s phone number.
“They kept handing me their business card and asking me for my mother’s number.”
ㅡ Sehun
Being the obedient child that he was, however, Sehun didn’t give out any numbers to strangers.
“I told them, ‘My mother told me not to tell any strangers my number.’ That’s exactly how I said it.”
ㅡ Sehun
Sehun continued to go on his way back home, but the casting managers continued to follow him, so he eventually gave in and told them his mother’s number.
“They kept following me for about 5 minutes. So I told them my mom’s number and left.”
ㅡ Sehun
The casting managers then contacted Sehun’s mother and that’s how Sehun eventually became a member of EXO!
While Sehun was only in elementary school when he was discovered, Baekhyun stated that he began training when he was 20 years old and preparing to enter college.
“I entered [SM Entertainment] very late. I was 20 years old.”
ㅡ Baekhyun
Baekhyun was warming his voice up on campus when a casting director came up to him and asked if he was interested in becoming a celebrity.
“I was holding my sheet music and warming up my voice in front of school and suddenly someone tapped my shoulder. I looked back and she asked, ‘Are you interested in becoming a celebrity by any chance?'”
ㅡ Baekhyun
Baekhyun added that he was in fact cast numerous times on campus since middle school, but they always turned out to be a scam.
“Actually, I was cast numerous times in middle school. But everytime I was cast, they would tell me to pay 3 million won per month and practice. It was a scam.”
ㅡ Baekhyun
Due to the suspicions he accumulated from past experiences, he bluntly asked the casting director, “Which agency are you from?”
The casting director, however, was not at all taken aback and responded in a stronger tone, “You don’t need to know that. Just give me your number.”
Later that night, Baekhyun received a call from SM Entertainment asking to come in for an audition. Still not being able to completely trust them, Baekhyun explained that he continued to ask them random questions to make sure it wasn’t a scam.
“There was no way SM Entertainment would be calling me. So I sat in front of my computer thinking this must be a scam too and searched for SM Entertainment’s address. I asked them for their address and continued to ask surprise questions.”
ㅡ Baekhyun
Eventually, Baekhyun went in for the audition and became an SM trainee at the age of 20.
Meanwhile, SHINee’s Key caused a burst of laughter when he explained that unlike Sehun and Baekhyun, he was knocking on SM’s door, begging them to give him a chance.
“My friends over there must’ve been able to afford being suspicious. I was knocking on our company’s door saying, ‘Please just let me in once! Just once! I’ll really do my best!'”
ㅡ Key
Watch the full clip below:
