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"{I disliked that I looked Asian, that I didn't have blue eyes and fair hair, because that's what was beautiful at the time," says Arden Cho, who portrayed the lead character in the streaming platform's chart-topping movie, KPop Demon Hunters.

The performer, forty, recalls her early years in Texas, as the eldest daughter of Korean immigrant parents and her struggle for acceptance in the United States.

In the movie, which narrates the tale of a female K-Pop trio who must rescue humanity from evil forces, Rumi has to accept her true nature as a hybrid being – 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, trying to figure out my sense of self as an Asian-American, as a Asian-American, as a woman," she explains.

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

"I can honestly say, at various stages in my life, I hated a lot of myself and I longed to become someone else.

"During childhood, what you see shapes who you become and I feel like I just didn't see sufficient individuals that shared my appearance."

When it launched on Netflix in June, KPop Demon Hunters registered 33 million views in just two weeks, and secured the highest positions of the streaming rankings in dozens of nations. To be part of the pioneering animation 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 type that was missing when she was young.

Cho notes many individuals of Korean descent have told her it's "such a refreshing moment", making them feel pride for the first time of their mixed background and cultural roots.

"I feel like K-Pop really, truly, has paved the way. K-beauty has had such a big impact on Korea being loved. But I feel like this movie is the one that tipped it over the edge, of, inspiring travel to Korea, now," she comments.

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's unfortunate 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 accepted the part, she took steps to connect with everyone working on the film face-to-face, she says.

The film was released 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 living in the US "it's heartbreaking and disappointing," she states. "Newcomers have made America what it is."

Korean news sources have estimated 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, she understood that the racism 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 this day and age, when I feel like the world and individuals should know better, it is beyond disappointing and at times it appears we feel so hopeless," she expresses.

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

"Maybe that's why it's sort of like this movie of the summer, because we just needed positivity and something to unite us all together."

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

The actress acknowledges she is conscious that technology is already being used to copy performers' vocals, but wants to "maintain faith in people" that individuals will still seek out human-made creativity.

"Sure, I believe there will be digital performers and vocalists. I know they're already here. I know our voices are already being manipulated, but I hope the public have appreciation and desire for something real."

KPop Demon Hunters has also been dominating the international music rankings, with seven tracks from its score appearing in the Billboard Hot 100. It has its own fan art, and audiences globally are demanding a sequel.

Cho reveals she would like to confirm the inquiry of if a sequel is planned – but both everyone involved will have to await the streaming service or the production company, which produced the movie, to give it the green light.

"I'm aware there's lots of murmurs, the feedback is positive," she says. "So we shall see, and I think fans everywhere would riot if there wasn't."

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