ABU DHABI: “I’m a huge animation lover,” Arden Cho told a packed hall at Middle East Film & Comic Con in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, lighting up as she talked about voicing Rumi in Netflix’s smash hit “K-Pop Demon Hunters.”

She added: “I think I’ve seen ‘Inside Out’ like 10 times. I love ‘Kung Fu Panda.’ I love ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ I’m like all I want, all I want is a Toothless in my life.”

Cho recalled the precise moment she realized the film might be something special — during an early recording session for the scene where Rumi and the girls meet the Saja Boys. “I remember when they bust out ‘Soda Pop.’ I was like, ‘This is going to be the greatest movie of all time… how could people not love this, right?’”

Even before audiences discovered it, Cho says she trusted the story and the world that co-director Maggie Kang and the animators were building around Rumi. Working alone in the booth, often with only sketches on screen, she watched the character come to life in real time. “As we were recording, the incredible artists and animators would continue developing and creating, and making our girls real,” she said.

The result — one of Netflix’s biggest animated films, with four songs on the Billboard Hot 100 — was as emotional for Cho as it was entertaining. Watching the finished movie, she said, meant seeing her own culture rendered in vivid detail. “I was like, oh my gosh, that’s Korea! I can’t believe it. The whole world is going to see how beautiful Korea is. They’re going to see how beautiful our food is … I was just bawling watching the movie for the first time.”

Much of that emotion, she suggested, comes from how closely Rumi’s struggle with expectations mirrors her own upbringing as a Korean American daughter. “I feel like every Asian knows this, but you’re just never quite good enough for your mom. You’re just never smart enough, pretty enough, perfect enough,” she said, adding that the scenes between Rumi and her adoptive guardian Celine were “easy” because she knew exactly what those words felt like.

Cho also spoke candidly about the state of Asian representation in Hollywood, describing progress as “waves” rather than a steady climb, and about the power of saying no to projects that do not feel right. After years of work across YouTube, “Teen Wolf,” “Chicago Med” and more, she led Netflix’s “Partner Track” — a career milestone that was followed quickly by cancellation and, for her, a temporary decision to quit acting altogether.

It was only after almost two years off — “doing all these bucket list things” and traveling for herself rather than for work — that she found her way back through “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” arriving at the role of Rumi with, as she put it, more peace and more clarity about the stories she wants to tell.

Still, one past character remains especially close to her heart. Asked which role she would most love to revisit, Cho smiled at the mention of “Teen Wolf” fan favorite Kira Yukimura.

“Oh my God, it’s so hard because I love Kira so much, and Kira Yukimuro will always be a part of me.”