{"id":103734,"date":"2025-11-18T04:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103734"},"modified":"2025-11-18T04:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T04:02:00","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-star-on-how-her-life-mirrored-main-characters-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103734","title":{"rendered":"KPop Demon Hunters star on how her life mirrored main character\u2019s journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is part of the Global Women series from the BBC World Service, sharing extraordinary interviews and stories from around the globe.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI hated that I looked Asian, that I didn\u2019t have blue eyes and blonde hair, because that\u2019s what was beautiful at the time,\u201d says Arden Cho, the actress who voiced Rumi, star of Netflix\u2019s chart-topping animated film, KPop Demon Hunters.<\/p>\n

Cho, 40, is describing her childhood in Texas, as the eldest daughter of Korean immigrant parents and her struggle for acceptance in American society.<\/p>\n

In the film, which tells the story of a female K-Pop trio who must save the world from evil forces, Rumi has to come to terms with her identity as part human, part demon \u2013 and when Cho first read the script this resonated powerfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing born in America, feeling American but having people treat me like I\u2019m not, trying to figure out my identity as an Asian-American, as a Korean-American, as a woman,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

These were all elements of her early life that mirrored Rumi\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can honestly say that at different points in my life, I hated a lot of myself and I wanted to be someone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs kids, what you see shapes who you become and I feel like I just didn\u2019t see enough people that look like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cho says the film has led to \u201cKorea being loved\u201d more than ever before<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it launched on Netflix in June, KPop Demon Hunters registered 33 million views in just two weeks and reached the top 10 of the Netflix charts in 93 countries. To star in the first Hollywood animated film set in Korea, with Korean leads, was for Cho \u201ca dream come true\u201d \u2013 but it has also made her a powerful role model for Asian-American children, of the kind that she lacked when she was young.<\/p>\n

Cho says many Korean-Americans have told her it\u2019s \u201csuch a refreshing moment\u201d, making them proud for the first time of their dual heritage and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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, everybody wants to go to Korea, now,\u201d Cho says.<\/p>\n

But the film\u2019s success was not guaranteed and Cho says she felt the team making it were \u201csometimes facing an uphill battle\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it kind of sucks to say this, but any time there\u2019s an Asian-led project, people feel like it\u2019s a risk,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

So, when she took on the role, she made an effort to meet everyone working on the film in person, she says.<\/p>\n

Cho says she thinks racism stems from poor education<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The film was released against the backdrop of increased immigration raids in the US as part of the Trump administration\u2019s mass deportation effort, which sparked protests in many states.<\/p>\n

As an Asian-American living in the US \u201cit\u2019s heartbreaking and disappointing,\u201d says Cho. \u201cImmigrants have made America what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korean news sources have estimated that up to 150,000 Korean immigrants without proper documentation, including adopted children, are among those who could be deported.<\/p>\n

As an adult, Cho came to realise that the racism she had experienced when she was younger stemmed mainly from a lack of education, as people didn\u2019t know what it meant to be Korean or Asian.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now in this day and age, when I feel like the world and people should know better, it is beyond disappointing and sometimes I feel like we feel so hopeless,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Because of this, it feels very special, she says, that KPop Demon Hunters could bring \u201chope and joy and love to all these different communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that\u2019s why it\u2019s sort of like this movie of the summer, because we just needed some hope and something to unite us all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ji-Young Yoo (left) and May Hong (right) are also voice actors in the film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The growth of AI is a major concern for the film industry, raising the possibility that in future it could be used to make a film like KPop Demon Hunters.<\/p>\n

Cho says she is aware that AI is already being used to replicate actors\u2019 voices, but wants to \u201chave hope in humanity\u201d that people will still seek out art created by humans.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, I\u2019m sure they\u2019re going to have AI actors and singers. I know they already exist. I know our voices are already being manipulated, but I hope people have some respect and want and love for something real.\u201d<\/p>\n

KPop Demon Hunters 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 art, and audiences around the world are demanding a sequel.<\/p>\n

Cho tells us she wishes she could answer the question of whether that will happen, but both she and fans will have to wait for Netflix or Sony Pictures Entertainment, which made the film, to give it the green light.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s lots of murmurs, I\u2019ve heard wonderful things,\u201d she says. \u201cSo we shall see, and I think everyone in the world would riot if there wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"KPop“I hated that I looked Asian, that I didn’t have blue eyes and blonde hair, because that’s what was beautiful at the time,” says Arden Cho, the actress who voiced Rumi, star of Netflix’s chart-topping animated film, KPop Demon Hunters.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7385,213,1377,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-demon-hunters","category-movies","category-music","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}