🔗 Share this article

This feature delves into 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 back then," reveals Arden Cho, who voiced the lead character in the streaming platform's highly successful animated film, KPop Demon Hunters.

The performer, forty, is describing her childhood in Texas, 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 dark powers, the protagonist has to come to terms with her identity as a hybrid being – and when Cho first read the script, this resonated powerfully.

"Growing up in the US, feeling American but having others view me like I'm not, grappling with my identity as an Asian-American, as a Asian-American, as a woman," she explains.

These elements were components of her formative years that mirrored Rumi's journey.

"I can honestly say, at various stages in my existence, I despised many parts of me and I wanted to be a different person.

"As kids, your surroundings shapes who you become and it seems I just didn't see enough people that shared my appearance."

When it launched on Netflix in the summer, KPop Demon Hunters registered millions of streams in just two weeks, and secured the top 10 of the Netflix charts in 93 countries. To be part of the pioneering animation with a Korean setting, with Korean leads, was for Cho "an aspiration realized" – but it has also established her as a powerful role model for Asian-American children, the kind that was missing when she was young.

She notes many individuals of Korean descent have told her it's "a breath of fresh air", making them feel pride for the first instance of their dual heritage and culture.

"In my view Korean pop music has genuinely broken barriers. K-beauty has had a significant influence on Korea being loved. But I feel like the film is the one that tipped it over the edge, of, everybody wants to go to Korea, currently," she comments.

But the movie's triumph was not guaranteed and Cho admits she felt the team making it were "sometimes facing an uphill battle".

"It seems it kind of sucks to say this, but any time there's an production with Asian leads, people feel like it's a risk," she says.

So, when she took on the role, she made an effort to meet everyone working on the film in person, she says.

The movie was launched amid increased immigration raids in the United States as part of mass deportation efforts, which sparked protests in numerous regions.

As an Asian-American residing in America "it's deeply saddening," says Cho. "Immigrants have shaped the nation."

Reports have suggested that up to 150,000 Korean immigrants lacking legal status, including adopted children, are among those who could be deported.

As an grown-up, Cho understood that the prejudice she had encountered when in her youth stemmed mainly from a lack of education, as people didn't know what it signified to be of Asian descent.

"However today, in this day and age, when I feel like the world and people ought to be more informed, it is beyond disappointing and sometimes I feel like we feel so hopeless," she says.

Due to this, it feels very special, she says, that KPop Demon Hunters could bring "hope and joy and love to various groups".

"Perhaps this explains it's sort of like this movie of the summer, because we just needed some hope and something to unite us all together."

The growth of AI is a major concern for the film industry, creating the potential that in future it could be used to produce a movie like KPop Demon Hunters.

Cho acknowledges she is conscious that technology is already being used to copy actors' voices, but wants to "have hope in humanity" that individuals will still pursue human-made creativity.

"Sure, I'm sure there will be digital performers and singers. I know they already exist. I know performers' voices are already being manipulated, but I hope the public have appreciation and want and love for authentic creations."

The film has also been leading the international music rankings, with multiple songs from its soundtrack featured on the prestigious charts. It has its own fan art, and audiences globally are calling for a follow-up.

She reveals she would like to confirm the question of whether that will happen – but both she and fans will have to await the streaming service or the studio, which made the film, to give it the green light.

"I'm aware rumors are circulating, the feedback is positive," she says. "So we shall see, and I think fans everywhere would protest if it didn't happen."

• Starting conversations, fostering relationships and challenging misinformation through features, in-depth reports, interviews and extraordinary stories