Meet The Mexican American Talent Behind 'kpop Demon Hunters'

The House of Pies, a Los Feliz institution, is bustling connected a chilly January morning.

It wouldn’t beryllium shocking if immoderate of nan patrons present for meal were casually chit-chatting astir nan taste behemoth that “KPop Demon Hunters” has become. After all, nan 2025 animated saga astir 3 euphony stars fighting otherworldly foes is now nan most-watched movie ever connected Netflix; “Golden,” its showstopping track, has since go nan first Korean popular opus to ever triumph a Grammy.

But for Danya Jimenez, 29, who sits crossed from maine sipping coffee, nan reception to nan movie she began penning connected backmost successful 2020 isn’t wholly surprising, but surely delayed.

“When we first started moving connected it, I was like, ‘People are going to beryllium obsessed pinch this. It’s going to beryllium nan champion point ever,’” she recalls. But arsenic respective years passed, and she and her penning partner and champion friend Hannah McMechan, 30, moved connected to different projects. They weren’t judge if “KPop” would ever spot nan ray of day. Production for animation takes time.

It wasn’t until she learned that her Mexican parents were organically alert of nan movie that Jimenez considered it could really unrecorded up to nan imaginable she initially had hoped for.

“Without maine saying anything, my parents were like, ‘People are talking astir this’ — for illustration my dad’s co-workers aliases my aunt’s friends — that’s erstwhile I started to realize, ‘This mightiness beryllium thing big,’” she says.

“But ne'er successful my life did I deliberation it would beryllium astatine this scale.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” is now nominated for 2 Academy Awards: animated characteristic and original song. And that’s connected apical of really ubiquitous nan characters — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — already are.

“Everyone sends maine photos of knockoff ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ dolls from crossed nan border,” Jimenez says laughing. “My friend sewage maine a garment from Mexicali pinch nan 3 girls, but they do not look thing for illustration themselves. She moreover sewage my sanction connected it, which was awesome.”

After graduating from Loyola Marymount University successful 2018, Jimenez and McMechan quickly recovered their footing successful nan industry, arsenic good arsenic representation. But it was their still unproduced screenplay, “Luna Likes,” astir a Mexican American teenage woman obsessed pinch nan precocious cook and writer Anthony Bourdain, that tangentially put them connected nan “KPop” path.

“Luna Likes” earned nan brace a spot astatine nan prestigious Sundance Screenwriters Lab, wherever Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote “Guardians of nan Galaxy,” served arsenic 1 of their advisors. Perlman, credited arsenic a accumulation advisor connected “KPop,” thought they would beryllium a bully fit.

Jimenez didn’t spot nan relationship betwixt her R-rated drama astir a moody Mexican American teen and a PG animated characteristic group successful nan world of K-pop music, but nan duo still pitched. Their thought much intimately resembled an indie dramedy than an epic action flick.

“If [our type of ‘KPop’] were live-action, it would’ve been a million-dollar budget. It was nan smallest movie ever. Our large finale was a excavation party,” Jimenez says. “We had each of nan girls and nan boys pinch instruments, which evidently is not a point successful K-pop, and everyone was making out.”

Even though their original transportation wouldn’t activity for nan film, Maggie Kang, nan co-director and besides a co-writer, believed their voices arsenic 2 young women who were champion friends, roommates and imaginative collaborators could thief nan movie’s heroines consciousness much authentic.

“Maggie had already interviewed each of nan much established writers, particularly older men,” Jimenez says. “She knows nan culture. She knew K-pop, she’s an animator. She conscionable needed nan girls’ voices to travel through, truthful I deliberation that’s why we sewage hired.”

Kang confirms this via email: “It’s ever awesome to collaborate pinch writers who are nan existent property of your characters! Hannah and Danya were precisely that,” she says. “They were very adjuvant successful bringing a fresh, young sound to HUNTR/X.”

Neither Jimenez nor McMechan were K-pop fans astatine nan time. As portion of their research, they some started watching K-pop videos, but it was McMechan who sewage “sucked into nan K-hole” first. Still, it didn’t return agelong until nan video for BTS’ “Life Goes On” entranced Jimenez.

“K-pop is simply a stream that you autumn into, and it conscionable takes you,” Jimenez says. BTS and Got7 are her favourite groups. For McMechan, nan ensemble that captivates her astir is Stray Kids.

In penning nan trio of demon hunters, nan co-writers modeled them aft themselves. The characters’ propensity for disfigured faces, silliness and a spot of grossness too, stems from nan portrayals of girlhood and young womanhood that entreaty to them. Jimenez, who says she was an angsty teen, astir intimately identifies pinch nan rebellious Mira.

“I person a monotone vibe,” says Jimenez. “People ever deliberation that I’m a bitch conscionable because I person a resting bitch face,” she says. “But arsenic you tin spot successful nan movie, Mira cares truthful overmuch astir having everyone beryllium really close. I consciousness for illustration that’s really I’m pinch each my friends.”

Characters pinch beardown personalities that are not simplistically likable consciousness nan truest to Jimenez. In “Luna Likes,” nan prickly protagonist is straight inspired by her experiences increasing up, arsenic good arsenic nan enslaved she shared pinch her dada complete Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” show.

“There’s a unit to show that Mexicans are bully group and we’re difficult workers. I was like, ‘Let’s make her benignant of bitchy and very flawed,’” Jimenez says astir Luna. “She’s a teen successful America and she should beryllium fixed each nan aforesaid opportunities — and besides nan forgiveness for being an ass— and [as] selfish astatine that property arsenic anybody else.”

Hannah McMechan, left, and Danya Jimenez, co-writers of “KPop Demon Hunters,” met successful college.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Though their upbringings were markedly different, it was their shared comedic sensibilities that connected Jimenez and McMechan erstwhile they met successful college. The 2 were adjacent agelong earlier deciding to pen stories together. “Having a penning partner is nan best. I consciousness bad for group who don’t person a penning partner, nary discourtesy to them,” says Jimenez.

McMechan explains that their penning business useful because it’s grounded connected existent friendship. And she believes they would not person gotten this acold without each other. While McMechan’s beardown suit is looking astatine nan bigger picture, Jimenez finds joke successful nan details.

“Danya is decidedly funnier than me,” says McMechan. “It’s really difficult to constitute drama successful speech versus drama successful a business because if you’re putting nan drama successful nan dialogue, it tin sound truthful forced and cringey. But she’s really bully astatine making it sound earthy but still really funny.”

Though she had been penning stories for herself arsenic a teen, Jimenez didn’t see it a profession way until arsenic a precocious schooler she watched nan romanticist drama “No Strings Attached,” successful which Ashton Kutcher plays a accumulation adjunct for a TV series.

“He is having a horrible time. But I was truthful obsessed pinch movies and TV, and I was like, ‘That looks incredible. I want to beryllium doing what he’s doing,’” she recalls. “And my dada was like, ‘That’s a job.’”

Danya Jimenez grew up successful Orange County.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

As an infant, Jimenez spent immoderate clip surviving successful Tijuana, wherever her parents are from, until nan family settled backmost successful San Diego, wherever she was born. And erstwhile she was astir 5 years old, Jimenez, an only child, and her parents relocated to Orange County. Until then, Jimenez mostly said Spanish, which made for a tricky modulation erstwhile starting school.

“I knew English, but it conscionable wasn’t a habit,” she recalls. “I would raise my manus and accidentally speak Spanish successful class. My teachers would beryllium like, ‘We’re worried astir her vocabulary.’ That was ever an issue, truthful it’s really funny that I turned retired to beryllium a writer.”

As she points retired successful her master bio, it was movies and TV that helped pinch her English vocabulary, particularly nan Disney sitcom “Lizzie McGuire.”

Jimenez describes increasing up successful Orange County pinch fewer Latinos astir extracurricular of her family arsenic an alienating experience. She admits to emotion awesome shame for immoderate of her behaviors arsenic a teen acrophobic of being treated otherwise and hopeless to fresh in.

“I would speak Spanish to my mom for illustration successful a area because I didn’t want everyone other to perceive maine speak Spanish,” Jimenez confesses. “If my mom pulled up to schoolhouse to driblet maine disconnected playing Spanish hits from nan ‘80s aliases banda, I was like, ‘Can you move it down please?’”

Like a batch of young Latinos, she’s now taking steps to link pinch her heritage, and, successful a way, atone for those moments wherever she fto what others mightiness deliberation rob her of her pride.

“During nan pandemic I cornered my grandma to make each of her recipes again truthful I could constitute them down,” she recalls. “Now I person them each written down connected a website. Or if my mom corrects maine for thing that I’m saying successful Spanish, I now listen.”

At nan consequence of angering her, Jimenez describes her mother arsenic a “cool mom,” and compares her to Amy Poehler’s characteristic successful “Mean Girls.” Raised successful a family without financial struggles, Jimenez doesn’t often subordinate to stories astir Latinos successful nan U.S. that make it to movie and TV. Her dream is to grow Latino storytelling beyond nan tropes.

“That’s very important to me, to conscionable show Latino stories aliases Mexican stories successful a measurement that’s conscionable authentic to maine and hopefully personification other is like, ‘Yes, that’s me,’” she says. “A batch of group person definite expectations for Latino stories that I’m not consenting to discuss on.”

Though they still would for illustration to make “Luna Likes” if fixed nan chance, for now, Jimenez and McMechan will proceed their accelerated ascent.

They’re “goin’ up, up, up” because it is their “moment.” They precocious wrapped nan Apple TV show “Brothers” starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson that filmed successful Texas. They are besides penning nan characteristic “Attack of nan Fifty Foot Woman” for Tim Burton to direct, pinch Margot Robbie successful talks to star.

“I consciousness for illustration I’ve conscionable been operating successful a authorities of daze for nan past, I don’t cognize really galore months since June,” says Jimenez successful her signature deadpan affect. “But if I deliberation astir it excessively much, I’d beryllium a tense wreck.”