"KPop Demon Hunters" star Arden Cho says, "The unexpected success and love... I already feel like we've won"

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[Financial News] "KPop Demon Hunters is the project that helped me reconnect with my original passion as an actor. It has enjoyed a level of success and love that none of us expected."
Arden Cho, who voiced the protagonist Rumi Kang in the Netflix original film KPop Demon Hunters, shared these thoughts in an interview with Korean reporters on the 30th of last month. In KPop Demon Hunters, composer EJAE provided the singing voice for Rumi’s songs, while Cho brought the character to life with her speaking voice.
She recalled, "KPop Demon Hunters was a project that came to me while I was on a break, having decided to retire from acting," adding, "It reminded me why I started acting in the first place, and it gave me the confidence that maybe it’s not too late for me as an actor."■ "I remember the racism... I wanted to become a cool actor"Arden Cho said, "As a child, I experienced so much racism growing up in the United States that I thought if I became an actor and showed them a cool version of myself, I could change the way they looked at us," recalling what first inspired her to dream of becoming an actor.
\r\nAt some point, she also began studying Korean, driven by the thought that she wanted to work in Korea one day. The interview that day was conducted in Korean, with an interpreter helping out for some expressions.
She first gained recognition through the Music Television (MTV) drama Teen Wolf (2013–2016), and later led the story of a Korean American woman lawyer as the sole lead in the Netflix original series Partner Track (2022). However, when Partner Track was not renewed for a second season, she seriously considered retiring from acting. "At some point, I started to wonder if my time had already passed," she explained.
KPop Demon Hunters became the project that gave Arden Cho a new turning point as an actor. She first encountered it at her agent’s suggestion, and the fact that it was directed by Korean American filmmaker Maggie Kang really spoke to her. She originally auditioned for the role of Celine, the manager of the girl group HUNTR/X, but in the end she was cast as Rumi Kang.
To prepare for her first-ever voice-acting role, Arden Cho leaned on the power of music. "I kept listening on repeat to songs like I Am the Best, Like Jennie, and Blood Sweat & Tears by 2NE1, Blackpink, and BTS to boost my confidence," she recalled.
As someone from the "Fin.K.L and S.E.S. generation," Korean culture has always been close to her. She still owns a DVD of the Korean film A Moment to Remember, loves Korean food from gimbap, tteokbokki, and naengmyeon to bossam and jokbal, and regularly listens to K-pop, from Hwasa to Hearts2Hearts. She also has a deep affection for hanbok and has even worn it to an awards ceremony in the United States.
Speaking about the status of East Asian women leads in Hollywood, Arden Cho said, "In the long term, I definitely hope to see real change," but added, "It’s still hard to say that things have changed enough to really feel it." In Korea, however, the way people see her has clearly shifted. She described the attention and interview requests from Korea as "almost embarrassingly grateful and deeply rewarding," and added, "Like most diaspora actors, I’ve always had this quiet desire to be recognized in Korea."
These days, Arden Cho is also walking the path of a producer. She wants to create stories where East Asians—especially women in their 20s and 30s—are the main characters. The film "Perfect Girl," which follows the intense competition among K-pop girl group trainees preparing to debut, grew out of that very sense of purpose.
She stressed, "I want to give the next generation the opportunities I never had," and went on, "I hope we’ll see more East Asian producers and creators working in the United States. If we want to show the world something truly cool, in the end we have to create it ourselves."■ Hoping the Grammys open more doors for K-popMeeting Arden Cho ahead of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, she said she hopes K-pop artists will be given even more opportunities. This year’s Grammys are widely seen as meaningful because K-pop crossed genre boundaries and competed on the main awards stage.
The KPop Demon Hunters original soundtrack Golden was nominated in five categories, including Song of the Year, at the ceremony held on the 1st (local time) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, State of California. It ultimately won in the Best Song Written for Visual Media category. EJAE, Teddy Park, 24, and IDO (Lee Yu-han, Kwak Joong-gyu, and Nam Hee-dong), who worked on the track, became the first K-pop songwriters and producers ever to win a Grammy Award.
Arden Cho recalled a moment at last year’s Critics' Choice Awards when director Maggie Kang said, "We’ve already won in our own way," and said that regardless of whether they took home the trophy, she "already feels like we’ve won."
That night, Rosé opened the Grammy ceremony with her hit song APT., while KATSEYE joined the Best New Artist nominees for a special collaborative performance. Rosé was nominated in three categories, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year, and KATSEYE received two nominations, including Best New Artist, but unfortunately neither act ended up winning an award.
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jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-ah Reporter