Kris Wu Opened Up About The Memories And Struggles He Had As An EXO Member
Kris Wu recently spoke with Vlad TV‘s DJ Vlad (Vladimir Lyubovny), a hip-hop and urban culture news site, where he opened up about many of his intimate details. Known for their hard-hitting questions, DJ Vlad asked Kris about life without his father, his former dreams of being a basketball player, and his special time with EXO.
Kris revealed that after his parents divorced when he was a baby, and he never heard from his father again. About 10 years later, he and his mom moved to Vancouver to start a new life.
I feel like, I’m just used to it… I feel like I’m quite independent and always being with my mom made me more mature and able to take things on my own. So, I think it’s actually not a bad thing for me.
I think it’s definitely one of the reasons why I feel like I could be here today, where I’m at because I’ve been very independent through my childhood.
— Kris Wu
He shared that he got into hip-hop through his love of basketball, though dreams of being a basketball player never played out.
When he turned 18, he decided to attend the SM Global Audition in Vancouver and see where it took him.
China has a big market and they had a vision, they wanted their band to be performing and be active in China and all over China. So they wanted me to be in the group.
— Kris Wu
After debuting with EXO, Kris was open to a variety of experiences. Through the good times and bad times, Kris treasures the moments he shared with EXO because it’s a part of who he is today.
I feel like it’s more of an experience. I definitely appreciate all the stuff, I feel like there’s good times and there’s the hard times. But I treasure every moment. I feel that without [EXO] I would never be able to be who I am today. So, it’s just part of my life that I take with me and move forward.
— Kris Wu
Kris further explained that the hardest struggles he had as a K-Pop idol were the intense schedules and lack of freedom.
One of the biggest problems I had was, first of all, all the schedules were super intense and I had no freedom whatsoever. And second, I guess, the thing that bothers me the most is that I had no freedom creatively. I couldn’t do the type of music that I wanted to do.
— Kris
After leaving EXO, Kris happened upon the chance to freely explore the different channels of the Chinese entertainment industry, where he chanced upon amazing opportunities to begin acting and putting forth his own style of music.
During the time when I got back, the film industry was blowing up…a lot of opportunities came in…so that’s how I got on board with the acting career and did a lot of movies at that time… I did put out singles now and then to let my fans know I’m still doing music.
— Kris
All in all, Kris Wu seems very happy with his solo career and looks back on his time with EXO as a powerful growing experience.