(Shelby and her husband, actor Harry Shum Jr.)

Shelby: I was helping out at my daughter’s school, and all of a sudden, I got this email that my agent forwarded. The attachment was a formal letter from [directors] Andrew Stanton, McKenna Harris, and [producer] Jess Choi. It said: “Dear Shelby, we are so excited to offer you this role in Toy Story 5…” 

At first, I honestly thought it was a joke because nobody had called me, and it was out of the blue. I was sitting in a parking lot thinking, “Am I getting punked right now?”

I called my husband, Harry. He stepped away from his meeting, I read him the letter, and he goes, “Babe, I think that’s real!” I just started crying by myself in this random outdoor parking lot. It was truly one of those pinch-me moments.

It was a dream come true, and I felt so proud of everything I’d done in my career leading up to that moment. Peridot from Steven Universe has always been one of my favorite characters I’ve played, and this felt like another dream role. I was just elated.