The SM Entertainment K-Pop Idol Who Finally Joined The Company After Being Casted Four Times

It’s not uncommon to hear stories from K-Pop idols about how they had to audition at multiple entertainment companies before they were accepted. What’s much less common, though not unheard of, is when an entertainment company reaches out to someone multiple times to offer them a casting opportunity before the person accepts it!

Yet that’s exactly what happened for a rookie idol at SM Entertainment who claims he was casted not twice, or thrice, but four times before he finally joined the label.

The idol in question is RIIZE‘s Eunseok, who just debuted with the new group a couple of weeks ago on September 4.

He recently revealed that he was street casted by SM Entertainment’s recruiters four different times before he became a trainee at the label.

처음에 길거리 캐스팅이 된 이후에 4번이나 더 제의를 받고 sm에 입사하게 된 은석이,,🥺 pic.twitter.com/Lr7gM3dFhk

— 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 🎸 (@realriization) September 13, 2023

I came to SM Entertainment after being street-cast. At first, when I was approached with the offer, I wasn’t interested. But I was cast four different times… which led to me standing here in front of everyone today.

— Eunseok (RIIZE)

Given that Eunseok has been announced as the visual member of RIIZE, it’s likely that he was initially recruited for his handsome appearance!

And he’s far from being the first SM Entertainment idol to be street casted in a similar manner. In fact, there are over a dozen other artists at the label that have similar stories, though theirs didn’t involve rejecting the offer so many times! The list includes EXO‘s Suho, Sehun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and D.O., NCT‘s Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Jaemin, and SHINee‘s Minho and Jonghyun.

Some netizens criticize SM Entertainment for “harassing” Eunseok with so many offers, while others are just glad that he finally accepted the opportunity and became an idol.