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

"{I hated that I had Asian features, that I lacked blue eyes and blonde hair, because those were the beauty standards back then," says the actress, who portrayed the lead character in the streaming platform's chart-topping movie, the K-pop themed animation.

The performer, forty, is describing her early years in Texas, as the eldest daughter of parents who emigrated from Korea and her journey toward belonging in the United States.

In the film, which tells the story of a female K-Pop trio who must save the world from evil forces, Rumi has to accept her true nature as a hybrid being – and when Cho first read the script, this struck a deep chord.

"Growing up in the US, feeling American but having people treat me like a foreigner, grappling with my identity as an Asian-American, as a Asian-American, as a woman," she says.

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

"I can honestly say, at different points in my life, I hated a lot of myself and I longed to become a different person.

"During childhood, what you see shapes who you become and it seems I just didn't see sufficient individuals that look like me."

When it debuted on the platform in the summer, KPop Demon Hunters registered millions of streams in just 14 days, and secured the top 10 of the streaming rankings in dozens of nations. To be part of the pioneering animation with a Korean setting, with Korean leads, was for her "an aspiration realized" – but it has also made her a powerful role model for Asian-American children, the kind that she lacked when she was young.

She says many Korean-Americans have told her it's "a breath of fresh air", making them feel pride for the first time of their mixed background and cultural roots.

"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 this movie is the one that pushed it further, of, inspiring travel to Korea, currently," she comments.

But the film's success was not guaranteed and Cho 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 Asian-led project, it's perceived like a gamble," she says.

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

The movie was released amid heightened enforcement actions in the US as part of mass deportation efforts, which triggered demonstrations in many states.

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

Reports have estimated that up to 150,000 individuals from Korea without proper documentation, including adopted children, are among those who could be deported.

As an adult, she came to realise that the racism she had encountered when in her youth was largely due to a lack of education, as people didn't know what it signified to be Korean or Asian.

"But now, in this day and age, when it seems the world and people should know better, it's deeply disheartening and sometimes I feel like there's a sense of despair," she expresses.

Due to this, it feels very special, she says, that KPop Demon Hunters could bring "optimism and happiness to all these different communities".

"Perhaps this explains it became this movie of the summer, because there was a need for positivity and something to unite us all together."

The growth of AI is a major concern for the entertainment sector, raising the possibility that in coming years it could be used to produce a movie like the animation.

Cho says she is aware that AI is already being used to copy actors' voices, but wants to "maintain faith in people" that audiences will still seek out art created by humans.

"Sure, I'm sure they're going to have digital performers and singers. I'm aware they're already here. I know performers' voices are already being manipulated, but I hope the public have appreciation and want and love for something real."

KPop Demon Hunters has also been leading the international music rankings, with seven tracks from its soundtrack featured on the Billboard Hot 100. It has its own fan art, and viewers around the world are calling for a sequel.

She reveals she wishes she could answer the inquiry of if a sequel is planned – but both she and fans will have to await the platform or the production company, which produced the movie, to give it the green light.

"I'm aware rumors are circulating, the feedback is positive," she says. "So we shall see, and I believe fans everywhere would riot if there wasn't."

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