Gia Kim made a huge splash with her first-ever acting debut playing queer queen bee Yuri Han in the Netflix series XO, Kitty. Viewers at home fell in love with Yuri, whose glamorous demeanor hid a heart of gold that made even Kitty (Anna Cathcart) question her sexuality.

But nothing can ever go according to plan at KISS; Season 2 marked the end of Yuri’s relationship with Juliana, even after she ignored her possible romantic interest in Kitty to prioritize Juliana’s feelings. The finale also hints that Yuri’s family could experience some financial hardship in Season 3 due to a class action lawsuit filed against their company. But Season 2 also saw Yuri living proudly as an out queer student, showing a marked change from the Yuri fans came to know and love in Season 1.

Despite the drama, Kim recently told Decider that it’s been “very exciting” playing a queer Korean character on the show.

“Even if I wasn’t a part of the show, I would have been just very excited for this show to have just come out in general, just because of the type of people that they’re representing in the world that it’s showcasing. So it’s been really exciting and a really big privilege to be a part of that,” she said over a recent Zoom call.

The actress, who is 32, told us that despite starring alongside a younger group of stars and not having the same “social energy” as them, still feels a strong connection to her “mature” castmates.

That stellar ensemble cast got even more attention this season, and the effort seriously paid off. Every young actor on the show got their moment to shine and further develop each other’s characters, but Kim truly rises to the occasion as Yuri learns to wear her heart on her sleeve for the very first time in her life as she fights for the people she loves.

Kim opened up to Decider about the unexpected drama Season 2 brought, and the trouble that could come down the line in Season 3.

Yuri was forced to choose between Kitty and Juliana this season. What did you think about that love triangle?

It just gives me a headache to think about the types of struggles and internal conflicts and external conflicts that she was juggling all throughout this school year. I mean, I’m like, girl, how do you even focus on your studies at this point?

I feel like they’re very real issues that can come up with in anybody’s life, and having someone you love with the love of your life, and also having a friend who’s a best friend who you have so much chemistry and love with, and when you’re vulnerable in a situation like that, how do you not want to explore that… I think that it’s very interesting though, because, you know, Kitty is a lovable character. Juliana is the love of her life. It’s interesting. It’s sticky.

Do you think there’s any hope for Yuri and Kitty after this season?

I would say there’s hope, except hope in the sense of, maybe not necessarily them ending up as romantic partners, but just hope in the sense that they would have a very strong, close bond, no matter, regardless of whether that’s platonic or romantic, because what they have is truly special. I just hope that they just remain very close.

I interviewed your brother, Sang Heon Lee, and asked him this question and I’m interested to see what you think. Is there ever any beef at home over who might be the better love interest for Kitty?

No, not really, because I think at the end of the day, we’re not fighting for anyone to end up with anybody personally, because at this point, we just want the characters to be happy, like, all in their individual rights and whatever that means and how they play out… I just want all the characters to be happy, you know. And we don’t know if that means that certain people end up with whom, or they end up just being single and working on themselves.

Yuri is an interesting character because she’s somebody who can be easily misunderstood. Was there anything that you were hoping to convey about Yuri and get across to the viewer?

I think when someone hears queen bee, they’re immediately gonna think of subconsciously, consciously related to some sort of queen bee character that they’ve seen. And she does come off very snooty and privileged at the beginning of Season 1. And I feel like, obviously that’s all intentional and part of the character building process, but I do really appreciate that the writers already kind of knew that this is the journey she’s going to go on. So they really kind of wanted to dramatize the before and after of going through this school semester. I didn’t really have to do much on my part, except just to follow the writing, follow the story, and just trust whatever it is she’s going through… It does kind of work to our advantage when people do immediately buy into that kind of stereotype of a queen bee, because they’re like, Oh, like this between the character is gonna be this, you know, bitch or whatever, and then, but then, actually, no, it turns out she has a lot more layers to her than meets the eye, and she is just as much a human being struggling with the same things that other people are.

Do you have any favorite memories from shooting with the cast this season?

There’s so many beautiful memories. I just love these humans, and I love that when we’re just shooting together, we’re all staying in the same hotel. Granted, I don’t have a lot of social energy or battery after I’m being on set. And also, like, a lot of them are younger than me. Well, actually, all of them are younger than me. So, um, I don’t have the social energy that a lot of the younger kids do. When I do hang out with them, it’s always so pleasant and fun, and they’re good human beings. I know I can talk to them about anything without judgment on their part, and you know, the amount of maturity they have. It’s never ceases to impress me.

I loved Yuri’s relationship with Dae (Choi Min-young) and how it’s blossomed into a really sweet partnership. Can you tell me what it’s been like shooting scenes with him?

I wish I had more scenes with him in Season 2. I miss their kind of kind of cat and mouse dynamic. I don’t know if you know this Korean movie My Sassy Girlfriend — it’s like a 90s classic romcom, and this girl kind of bullies this guy into their relationship, but in a cute way. And that’s the reference that one of the directors in Season 1 gave us, is like that dynamic between them. And I love that, because it’s so playful and so fun.

I really appreciate Dae’s friendship, because that was kind of like the first real friend she had before she became so close to Kitty. So I hope I see more of that in Season 3, for sure, because I feel like even though I had scenes with Dae, we didn’t have enough.

The Season 2 finale sets up some drama between Yuri and Dae’s families. What did you think about the Season 2 finale for Yuri? Where do you think that leaves the characters?

Oh, man, you know what? It’s so weird, because I didn’t even really think about the whole dynamic between our families, per se, but I hope it doesn’t affect Yuri and Dae’s friendship, and I’m sure it won’t, but also just separately and individually, I feel it will definitely portray newer challenges for Yuri in terms of what it means to not have all the money that she always was comfortable with as a privileged teenager. That would be interesting, because I feel like it’ll just mean more growing journey for her growing pains in different aspects of her life. So I’m really excited to see if that pans out in Season 3.

XO, Kitty Season 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix.