All The Members Of This Idol Group Were Street Cast

All the members of NU’EST have this in common: they were all street cast and that’s how they auditioned for PLEDIS Entertainment!

JR, also known as Kim Jonghyun, is the leader of the group. He was originally cast by a PLEDIS coordinated on the way home from school. Raised in a small neighborhood in Gangneung, his parents originally refused to let him audition, thinking it was a scam. The coordinater would then go to Gangneung and convince JR’s parents to let him audition.

Aron is the oldest member and originally from Los Angeles. Aron was found by a PLEDIS representative in LA and was asked to audition during the LA auditions. Aron would audition and win first place overall, leading him to drop out of college and pursue a career in music.

Baekho, also known as Kang Dongho, originally wanted to join Superstar K and was going to audition since the qualifiers would be held in Jeju. There, a casting agent from PLEDIS asked if he would like to train in Seoul. Thus, he ended up joining the company.

Minhyun was cast after school, when he and his friends were eating chicken skewers. He originally was supposed to just go straight home and told his friends he wasn’t hungry, but his friends convinced him to go eat. A PLEDIS casting manager found Minhyun as he was eating!

Their maknae, Ren (also known as Choi Minki), was spotted on a rainy day while going to audition for another company. Across the street, a PLEDIS manager spotted Ren and threw his umbrella to the ground, chasing Ren to ask to audition!