🔗 Share this article

This feature explores extraordinary interviews and stories from worldwide.

"{I disliked that I had Asian features, that I didn't have blue eyes and fair hair, because that's what was beautiful at the time," says Arden Cho, who portrayed Rumi in the streaming platform's highly successful movie, KPop Demon Hunters.

The performer, forty, is describing her childhood in the southern state, as the firstborn child of parents who emigrated from Korea and her struggle for acceptance in the United States.

In the movie, which tells the story of a girl group who must rescue humanity from evil forces, Rumi has to come to terms with her identity as a hybrid being – and when Cho first saw the screenplay, this struck a deep chord.

"Being born in America, identifying as American but having people treat me like I'm not, grappling with my identity as an Asian-American, as a Korean-American, as a female," she says.

These were all aspects of her early life that mirrored Rumi's journey.

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

"As kids, what you see shapes who you become and I feel like I just didn't see sufficient individuals that look like me."

When it launched on Netflix in the summer, the animated feature achieved millions of streams in just 14 days, and reached the highest positions of the Netflix charts in 93 countries. To star in the pioneering animation with a Korean setting, with Korean leads, was for her "a dream come true" – but it has also made her a powerful role model for young Asian-Americans, the kind that was missing when she was young.

She says 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 cultural roots.

"I feel like K-Pop has genuinely broken barriers. Korean cosmetics 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 uncertain and Cho says she felt the team making it were "sometimes facing an uphill battle".

"I feel like it kind of sucks to say this, but whenever there's an production with Asian leads, it's perceived like a gamble," she says.

So, when she accepted the part, she made an effort to connect with the entire cast and crew face-to-face, she says.

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

As an person of Asian descent residing in America "it's heartbreaking and disappointing," she states. "Immigrants have shaped the nation."

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

As an grown-up, Cho came to realise that the prejudice she had experienced when she was younger stemmed mainly from a lack of education, as many were unaware what it signified to be Korean or Asian.

"However today, in the modern era, when I feel like the world and individuals ought to be more informed, it's deeply disheartening and at times it appears we feel so hopeless," she says.

Due to this, it feels very special, she notes, that KPop Demon Hunters could bring "hope and joy and love to all these different communities".

"Perhaps this explains it's sort of like this movie of the summer, because there was a need for some hope and something to unite us as one."

The growth of AI is a significant worry for the entertainment sector, raising the possibility that in future it could be used to produce a movie like the animation.

Cho says she is conscious that technology is already being used to replicate performers' vocals, but wants to "maintain faith in people" that individuals will still pursue human-made creativity.

"Sure, I believe there will be AI actors and singers. I'm aware they already exist. I know performers' voices are already being altered, but I trust the public have appreciation and desire for authentic creations."

The film has also been dominating the global music charts, with seven tracks from its soundtrack featured on the Billboard Hot 100. It has its own fan creations, and viewers globally are calling for a follow-up.

She tells us she wishes she could answer the inquiry of whether that will happen – but both everyone involved will have to wait for the streaming service or the production company, which produced the movie, to approve the project.

"I'm aware there's lots of murmurs, I've heard wonderful things," she shares. "So we shall see, and I believe fans everywhere would riot if there wasn't."

• Initiating discussions, fostering relationships and challenging misinformation through articles, in-depth reports, interviews and remarkable accounts