🔗 Share this article

This feature delves into remarkable conversations and stories from around the globe.

"{I hated that I had Asian features, that I lacked blue eyes and fair hair, because that's what was beautiful at the time," reveals Arden Cho, who voiced the lead character in Netflix's highly successful movie, the K-pop themed animation.

Cho, 40, is describing her early years in Texas, as the firstborn child of Korean immigrant parents and her journey toward belonging in the United States.

In the film, which narrates the tale of a girl group who must rescue humanity from evil forces, the protagonist has to accept her true nature as part human, part demon – and when Cho first read the script, this struck a deep chord.

"Growing up in the US, feeling American but having others view me like a foreigner, trying to figure out my identity as an Korean-American, as a Korean-American, as a female," she says.

These were all aspects of her early life that paralleled the character's path.

"Truthfully, at different points in my life, I despised a lot of myself and I wanted to be someone else.

"As kids, your surroundings influences who you become and I feel like I just didn't see enough people that look like me."

When it debuted on the platform in the summer, KPop Demon Hunters achieved 33 million views in just 14 days, and secured the top 10 of the Netflix charts in 93 countries. To star in the pioneering animation set in Korea, with Asian protagonists, was for Cho "an aspiration realized" – but it has also made her a inspiring figure for young Asian-Americans, the kind that was missing when she was young.

Cho says many individuals of Korean descent have told her it's "such a refreshing moment", making them proud for the first instance of their dual heritage and cultural roots.

"In my view Korean pop music has genuinely broken barriers. Korean cosmetics has had a significant influence on global appreciation for Korea. But I believe this movie is the one that pushed it further, of, everybody wants to go to Korea, now," Cho says.

But the movie's triumph was uncertain and the actress says she felt the team making it were "sometimes facing an uphill battle".

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

So, when she accepted the part, she made an effort to connect with everyone working on the film in person, she says.

The movie was launched amid heightened enforcement actions in the US as part of extensive removal policies, which sparked protests in many states.

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

Reports have estimated that up to 150,000 individuals from Korea lacking legal status, including those who were adopted, are among those who could be removed.

As an adult, she understood that the prejudice she had encountered when she was younger was largely due to 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 it seems the society and people should know better, it's deeply disheartening and at times it appears there's a sense of despair," she says.

Due to this, it feels very special, she notes, that KPop Demon Hunters could bring "optimism and happiness to various groups".

"Perhaps this explains it's sort of like the season's hit film, because there was a need for positivity and something to unite us as one."

The growth of AI is a major concern for the film industry, creating the potential that in future it could be used to make a film like the animation.

Cho acknowledges she is conscious that technology is already being used to replicate performers' vocals, but wants to "maintain faith in people" that audiences will still pursue art created by humans.

"Sure, I believe they're going to have digital performers and singers. I'm aware they already exist. I understand our voices are already being altered, but I hope the public have appreciation and want and love for something real."

The film has also been dominating the international music rankings, with multiple songs from its soundtrack appearing in the Billboard Hot 100. It has its own fan art, and audiences globally are demanding a sequel.

Cho reveals she wishes she could answer the question of whether that will happen – but both she and fans will have to wait for the streaming service or the studio, which made the film, to give it the green light.

"I know there's lots of murmurs, the feedback is positive," she shares. "So we shall see, and I believe everyone in the world would riot if it didn't happen."

• Starting conversations, building connections and challenging misinformation through articles, investigations, conversations and extraordinary stories