🔗 Share this article

This feature explores extraordinary interviews and stories from around the globe.

"{I hated that I looked Asian, that I lacked light-colored eyes and fair hair, because those were the beauty standards at the time," says Arden Cho, who voiced the lead character in Netflix's chart-topping movie, the K-pop themed animation.

The performer, forty, is describing her childhood in Texas, as the firstborn child of parents who emigrated from Korea and her journey toward belonging in American society.

In the movie, which narrates the tale of a girl group who must rescue humanity from evil forces, the protagonist has to come to terms with her true nature as part human, part demon – and when Cho first read the script, this resonated powerfully.

"Being born in America, identifying as American but having others view me like a foreigner, grappling with my sense of self as an Korean-American, as a Korean-American, as a female," she explains.

These were all aspects of her formative years that paralleled Rumi's journey.

"I can honestly say, at various stages in my existence, I despised a lot of myself and I wanted to be someone else.

"As kids, your surroundings influences who you become and it seems I lacked exposure to enough people that look like me."

When it launched on Netflix in June, the animated feature achieved millions of streams in just two weeks, and reached the top 10 of the streaming rankings in dozens of nations. To star in the first Hollywood animated film with a Korean setting, with Asian protagonists, was for her "an aspiration realized" – but it has also made her a inspiring figure for Asian-American children, the type that was missing when she was young.

She says many individuals of Korean descent have expressed it's "a breath of fresh air", making them proud for the first time of their mixed background and cultural roots.

"In my view K-Pop really, truly, has paved the way. Korean cosmetics has had such a big impact on Korea being loved. But I feel like the film is the one that tipped it over the edge, of, inspiring travel to Korea, currently," Cho says.

But the movie's triumph was not guaranteed and the actress admits 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 Asian-led project, people feel like it's a risk," she reveals.

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

The movie was launched against the backdrop of heightened enforcement actions in the United States as part of mass deportation efforts, which sparked protests in many states.

As an Asian-American residing in America "it's deeply saddening," she states. "Immigrants have made America what it is."

Reports have suggested that up to one hundred fifty thousand individuals from Korea lacking legal status, including those who were adopted, are among those who could be removed.

As an grown-up, she understood that the prejudice she had encountered when in her youth was largely due to a lack of education, as many were unaware what it meant to be of Asian descent.

"But now, in this day and age, when it seems the world and individuals ought to be more informed, it's deeply disheartening and at times I feel like there's a sense of despair," she says.

Due to this, it's particularly meaningful, she notes, that the film could bring "hope and joy and love to various groups".

"Maybe that's why it became this movie of the summer, because there was a need for some hope and a unifying element as one."

The advancement of artificial intelligence 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 says 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 human-made creativity.

"Certainly, I'm sure there will be AI actors and vocalists. I know they already exist. I know our voices are already being manipulated, but I hope the public have some respect and want and love for something real."

The film has also been dominating the global music charts, with seven tracks from its score featured on the Billboard Hot 100. It has its own fan art, and viewers around the world are demanding a sequel.

She tells us she would like to confirm the inquiry of if a sequel is planned – but both she and fans will have to await the streaming service or the production company, which made the film, to give it the green light.

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

• Initiating discussions, building connections and combating false narratives through features, investigations, interviews and extraordinary stories