You probably went into XO, Kitty expecting a fluffy spin-off of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I did too. But honestly, once you start digging into the XO Kitty cast season 1, you realize the off-screen dynamics are almost as wild as the messy love triangles at KISS.
Remember the tension between Yuri and Min Ho? Well, it turns out that wasn't just good acting—it was literally a family affair.
The Sibling Secret Everyone Missed
Let's talk about the biggest shocker of the season. Gia Kim, who plays the "it-girl" Yuri Han, and Sang Heon Lee, who plays the resident heartthrob Min Ho, are actually brother and sister in real life.
Yeah. Real-life siblings.
It’s hilarious because the cast didn’t even know at first. Minyeong Choi (Dae) actually mentioned in an interview that he found out because Sang Heon asked if his sister could join the cast group chat. Everyone was like, "Wait, who's your sister?" and he basically dropped the bombshell that it was the girl playing Yuri.
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They don't share a last name professionally because Gia uses a stage name. Plus, their accents are totally different because of where they grew up. While they were born in Korea, they spent their formative years in Hong Kong. Sang Heon later studied in the UK at the University of Northampton, which explains that specific "posh" vibe he brings to Min Ho.
Anna Cathcart’s Big Leap
We’ve known Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey since she was 14. Watching her lead the XO Kitty cast season 1 felt like a natural graduation.
She isn't just a child actor anymore. She’s currently juggling a massive career with being a student at the University of British Columbia. She’s majoring in sociology and creative writing, which is funny because Kitty is basically a professional observer of human behavior (even if she gets the "matching" part wrong half the time).
The Core Students at KISS
The chemistry at the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS) worked because the cast was such a weird, beautiful mix of industry vets and total newcomers.
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- Minyeong Choi (Dae): This guy is a K-drama staple. You might recognize him as the younger version of characters in Twenty-Five Twenty-One or Itaewon Class. He brought a groundedness to Dae that made the whole "fake dating" plotline actually feel painful.
- Anthony Keyvan (Q): Anthony is a pro. He was in Love, Victor before this. He actually pushed the showrunners to make his character, Q, half-Filipino and half-Iranian to match his own heritage. It made the character feel way more authentic than your standard "jock" archetype.
- Jocelyn Shelfo (Madison): She plays the K-pop obsessed Madison Miller. Jocelyn actually had to learn Korean for the role. She’s worked with Jenny Han before on The Summer I Turned Pretty, so there’s some serious franchise loyalty there.
Peter Thurnwald and the Identity Arc
If you felt like Alex’s storyline about being an Australian-born Korean adoptee searching for his roots felt incredibly real, that’s because it was.
Peter Thurnwald, the actor who plays Alex, was actually born in Korea and adopted by Australian parents when he was six months old. He grew up on the Gold Coast. He’s spoken openly about how he used his own lived experience to portray Alex’s vulnerability. It’s rare to see that kind of "art imitating life" in a teen rom-com, but it gave the show a much-needed layer of depth.
Behind the Scenes in Seoul
They didn't just film on a backlot in LA. The XO Kitty cast season 1 spent months on the ground in South Korea.
The school itself? That’s actually the Kaywon University of Art and Design. The welcome party scenes were shot at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), which is basically a landmark for anyone into architecture or fashion.
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Shooting on location changed the energy. You can tell. The cast was living together in a foreign country, which bonded them in a way that shows through in the group scenes. Anthony Keyvan mentioned in a Vogue Philippines interview that being in Seoul was surreal because it was his first time working outside the States.
Why This Cast Worked
Most teen shows fail because the actors feel like they’re just playing "types."
But in XO, Kitty, everyone feels like they have a secret. Whether it's Juliana (played by Regan Aliyah) and her hidden relationship with Yuri, or Min Ho’s surprisingly soft heart under all that skin cream and ego.
The casting directors took risks. They hired a guy like Sang Heon Lee whose first-ever audition was for this show. Think about that. He hadn't even auditioned for anything else before landing a lead role on a Netflix global hit. That’s insane.
What You Can Do Next
If you're obsessed with the XO Kitty cast season 1, you don't have to just wait for the next season.
- Watch the "To All the Boys" Trilogy: If you haven't seen the original movies, go back and watch Anna Cathcart as a middle-schooler. It makes her growth in the series way more satisfying.
- Check out Sang Heon Lee in "Gran Turismo": He has a small role there, and it's fun to see him outside the KISS uniform.
- Follow the Cast on Socials: They are genuinely friends. Their "behind-the-scenes" TikToks and Instagram posts from the Seoul set are actually wholesome and give you a better look at the filming locations like N Seoul Tower.
- Deep Dive into the Soundtracks: The show uses a lot of Stray Kids, Seventeen, and Blackpink. If you liked the "vibe," looking up the official Spotify playlist is the fastest way to find those tracks.
The show isn't perfect—it's campy and sometimes unrealistic—but the cast makes you care. And at the end of the day, that’s why we’re all still talking about it.