10+ Idols Who Were All Street-Cast By SM Entertainment For Their Visuals, And Turned Out To Be Incredibly Talented As Well

These idols proved they have the looks and the skills to make it!

SM Entertainment is a top entertainment agency, known to house top-tier vocalists, dancers, rappers and visuals! Here are 10+ idols who SME discovered through street-casting, who we now know as the gorgeous idols we love and adore!

1. EXO’s Suho

EXO‘s Suho was scouted when he was at a park, doing community service! The scout approached him because of his visuals, and after 8 years of training, he debuted as EXO’s kind and talented leader!


2. f(x)’s Krystal

During a family trip to Korea, f(x)‘s Krystal was scouted in a mall alongside her sister Jessica! Her parents, however, felt she was too young to be a trainee (she was five!) and so, sent Jessica to be a trainee first, with Krystal following suit 6 years later. After around 3 years of training, Krystal finally debuted as the maknae of f(x)!


3. EXO’s Sehun

EXO’s Sehun was scouted by SM Entertainment talent scouts while eating tteokbeoki with his friends! Initially alarmed at strangers approaching him, he ran from the casting managers for 30 minutes before finally accepting their calling card. He then auditioned for SM, and the rest is history!


4. SHINee’s Minho

SHINee‘s Minho was scouted at a ski resort while on holiday, and initially declined the offer to join SM Entertainment. He was later approached by another persistent manager, and eventually agreed to join SM Entertainment, ultimately making his debut as SHINee’s main rapper!


5. Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun

Girls’ Generation‘s Seohyun was scouted while she was riding the subway, and eventually made her debut as the maknae of Girls’ Generation in 2007!


6. NCT 127’s Taeyong

NCT 127‘s Taeyong is famous for his top-tier visuals, and was scouted on the street because of his good-looks! He was approached by an SM Entertainment scout, and when the scout announced that they were from one of the “big 3 companies”, he initially thought the agent was from either MBC, KBS or SBS! After training for a while, he eventually debuted as the main rapper and dancer of NCT, and is killing it!


7. f(x)’s Amber

f(x)’s Amber was scouted in 2008, during a festival in Koreatown in her hometown of Los Angeles, USA. After making it through the auditions, she trained for a year and half before making her debut as the main rapper of f(x) in 2009!


8. EXO’s Chanyeol

EXO’s Chanyeol was street-cast while literally walking down the street! He first auditioned to be a model, later switching his focus to music. He initially joined SM Entertainment wanting to debut in a rock band, but eventually debuted as the main rapper of EXO in 2012!


9. NCT 127’s Jaehyun

NCT 127’s Jaehyun was in school one day, having stayed late because he was on cleaning duty. Upon leaving school, he was immediately scouted outside the building by an SM Entertainment agent, and eventually debuted as NCT’s lead vocalist in 2016!


10. NCT Dream’s Jaemin

NCT Dream‘s Jaemin was scouted in 2013, and was doing volunteer work with his mother when he was street-cast for his visuals! After 3 years of training, eh debuted as a visual, dancer and rapper of NCT Dream, and is absolutely slaying!


11. TVXQ’s Changmin

TVXQ‘s Changmin was scouted by an SM agent while he was singing and playing badminton during gym class, and cast him on the spot! Even though he was cast, he had no interest in being a singer, and only went for the audition at his mother’s insistence, who wanted to meet BoA! He made it through the auditons with flying colors, and eventually debuted as the main vocalist and makane of TVXQ in 2003!


12. EXO’s D.O.

EXO’s D.O. was scouted by an agent after winning a singing competition in 2010. He was advised to audition for SM Entertainment, and made it through, eventually debuting as the main vocalist of EXO after 2 years of training!


13. EXO’s Baekhyun

EXO’s Baekhyun was scouted by SM Entertainment when he was preparing to enter Seoul Institute of the Arts. He was warming up his voice, when a casting agent tapped him on the shoulder and asked him, “Do you want to be a celebrity?”. He eventually made it through the audition rounds, and made his debut as EXO’s main vocalist after mere months of training!


14. Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung

Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung was cast one Saturday while she was at the mall! The casting agent followed up on the offer the following Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as well!


15. SHINee’s Jonghyun

SHINee’s Jonghyun was street-cast in 2005 after performing with his band at a school festival. While initially scouted for his visuals, he quickly turned out to be an amazing talent, and made his debut as SHINee’s main vocalist in 2008!