NEW YORK — Rei Ami, whose voice helped fuel the hit movie “KPop Demon Hunters,” recently found herself facing plenty of real hunters — watching from the ocean floor as about 16 reef sharks went on a feeding frenzy.
She was scared, sure. But more than that, she was brought to tears.
“I thought I’d be a bit more petrified, but I was enamored. I was in awe. It was witnessing nature,” she says. “You can’t put it into words the emotions and the feelings that you experience.”
Viewers can watch Rei Ami's experience with sharks while off the Korean Peninsula when Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” kicks off Sunday.
Twenty new, hourlong shows leap deep into the world of the ancient predators, from a record-setting dive attempt into shark-infested waters to trying to find out what triggers giant bull sharks to confront humans.
“Growing up, I always watched ‘Shark Week,’” says Rei Ami. “You see those epic commercials, with the great white jumping out and eating the chum and the tuna. That’s ingrained in my brain forever.”
Actor-comedian Ken Jeong joins her to start the week off with the show “K-Pop Shark Heroes” on Sunday. But while she went on two cage dives and two free dives with hammerheads and reef sharks and bull sharks, he preferred to stay out of the water.
“I’m more of the Christopher Nolan of the shark ‘Odyssey’ — just overseeing it,” Jeong jokes. “Just overlooking everything. High and dry. That’s when I do my best work.”
