🔗 Share this article

This exclusive piece explores extraordinary interviews and narratives from around the globe.

"{I disliked that I looked Asian, that I didn't have light-colored eyes and blonde hair, because that's what was beautiful at the time," says Arden Cho, who voiced Rumi in the streaming platform's chart-topping movie, KPop Demon Hunters.

The performer, forty, recalls her childhood in the southern state, as the eldest daughter of Korean immigrant parents and her journey toward belonging in the United States.

In the film, which tells the story of a female K-Pop trio who must rescue humanity from evil forces, Rumi has to accept her true nature as part human, part demon – and when she first saw the screenplay, this resonated powerfully.

"Being born in America, feeling American but having people treat me like a foreigner, grappling with my sense of self as an Korean-American, as a Korean-American, as a woman," she explains.

These elements were aspects of her formative years that paralleled the character's path.

"I can honestly say, at different points in my life, I despised a lot of myself and I wanted to be a different person.

"During childhood, what you see shapes who you become and I feel like I lacked exposure to enough people that shared my appearance."

When it launched on Netflix in the summer, KPop Demon Hunters achieved 33 million views in just 14 days, and reached the highest positions of the Netflix charts in 93 countries. To be part of the first Hollywood animated film set in Korea, with Asian protagonists, was for Cho "an aspiration realized" – but it has also established her as a powerful role model for young Asian-Americans, the kind that she lacked when in her youth.

Cho notes many Korean-Americans have told her it's "such a refreshing moment", making them feel pride for the first instance of their dual heritage and cultural roots.

"In my view Korean pop music has genuinely broken barriers. K-beauty has had a significant influence on global appreciation for Korea. But I feel like the film is the one that pushed it further, of, everybody wants to go to Korea, now," she comments.

But the film's success was not guaranteed and Cho says she felt the team making it were "occasionally struggling against odds".

"I feel like it's unfortunate to say this, but whenever there's an production with Asian leads, people feel like a gamble," she reveals.

So, when she took on the role, she took steps to connect with the entire cast and crew face-to-face, she says.

The movie was released against the backdrop of increased immigration raids in the United States as part of extensive removal policies, which sparked protests in numerous regions.

As an Asian-American living in the US "it's heartbreaking and disappointing," she states. "Newcomers have made America what it is."

Korean news sources have suggested that up to 150,000 Korean immigrants without proper documentation, including those who were adopted, are among those who could be removed.

As an grown-up, she came to realise that the prejudice she had experienced when she was younger was largely due to a knowledge gap, as people didn't know what it signified to be Korean or Asian.

"But now, in the modern era, when I feel like the world and people should know better, it's deeply disheartening and at times I feel like there's a sense of despair," she expresses.

Because of this, it's particularly meaningful, she notes, that the film could bring "optimism and happiness to various groups".

"Maybe that's why it became the season's hit film, because there was a need for some hope and something to unite us all together."

The advancement of artificial intelligence is a significant worry for the entertainment sector, creating the potential that in coming years it could be used to make a film like KPop Demon Hunters.

Cho acknowledges she is aware that technology is already being used to replicate performers' vocals, but wants to "have hope in humanity" that audiences will still pursue human-made creativity.

"Certainly, I'm sure there will be digital performers and vocalists. I'm aware they already exist. I understand performers' voices are already being manipulated, but I hope the public have some respect and want and love for authentic creations."

KPop Demon Hunters has also been leading the global music charts, with multiple songs from its soundtrack featured on the prestigious charts. It has its own fan creations, and audiences around the world are calling for a sequel.

Cho tells us she wishes she could answer the question of if a sequel is planned – but both everyone involved will have to wait for the streaming service or the production company, which produced the movie, to give it the green light.

"I know there's lots of murmurs, I've heard wonderful things," she shares. "Only time will tell, and I think fans everywhere would protest if it didn't happen."

• Initiating discussions, building connections and challenging misinformation through features, investigations, interviews and extraordinary stories