From Heartbreak to Historic Success: Arden Cho’s Breakthrough Moment

Three years ago, Arden Cho was ready to abandon her acting career. After landing her first lead role in Netflix’s “Partner Track,” only to see it canceled after a single season, she was devastated and prepared to walk away from Hollywood entirely.

“I was heartbroken,” Cho recalls. If not for her persistent agent who refused to accept her decision, Cho’s story might have ended there. “She refused to say ‘You’re done.’ She just kept sending me things,” Cho explains. “She kept being like, ‘Look, I know you’re not auditioning. I know you’re done, but I think you’d like this.'”

That persistence has paid off dramatically. Cho is now juggling multiple projects after voicing Rumi, the lead character in Netflix’s animated summer phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters.” The film has become Netflix’s all-time most-streamed movie, with its soundtrack dominating pop charts worldwide thanks to earworms like “Golden” and “Soda Pop.”

“I am so ready,” Cho says with evident excitement. “It feels like it is my golden moment.”

The timing of her success carries special significance. Netflix announced that “KPop Demon Hunters” had become its most-watched movie on August 26—exactly three years after the platform began streaming “Partner Track.” Cho sees this cosmic coincidence as meaningful: “It was kind of like a gift from God of, ‘Hey, you lost something, but I’ve given you something better.'”

This remarkable turnaround has earned Cho a spot among The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2025, a recognition of her perseverance and talent.

Cho’s journey to Hollywood began in 2007 when she left behind family and friends to pursue acting in Los Angeles. “It was tough to leave my friends and family behind, it was tough to stay positive and to have thick skin. I still don’t have thick skin,” she admits.

Growing up in Texas and Minnesota as a Korean American, Cho hadn’t thought much about racial identity until attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “I realized that was the first time when I was like, oh, people look at me and don’t think that I’m an American,” she remembers. “There are two ways to look at it. You can just be mad and say, ‘I hate that we don’t have representation,’ or you can say, ‘I’m going to try.'”

Her breakthrough came in 2014 when she landed the role of superpowered Kira Yukimura on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” series. But substantial roles remained scarce until “Partner Track,” where she was finally number one on the call sheet. When the show was canceled, the loss was profound.

“I blinked and it was done and I was devastated,” Cho says. “I missed my moment because I was so busy trying to make it perfect, trying to fix it all by myself. And in a weird way, it reminds me so much of Rumi.”

For “KPop Demon Hunters,” producer Michelle Wong says Cho was chosen through a blind “listen test” after filmmakers narrowed finalists down to six actors. Cho was the unanimous choice.

“Our movie is dramatic, it’s action, it’s comedy, it’s everything. The talent needs to be at the highest level, which Arden obviously encapsulates,” Wong explains. “I hope this opens doors for her because she deserves it.”

Though Cho doesn’t sing in the movie, she deeply connects with her character Rumi, a K-pop idol and demon hunter who loses her voice. She sees her own insecurities reflected in the role and is eager to continue in the world created by Maggie Kang.

“I hope there are sequels, I hope there’s prequels, I hope that every little Asian girl and boy feels so seen and feels like they deserve to be the main character,” she says passionately. “I hope this opens doors for more Korean and American collaborated projects.”

The film has sparked worldwide interest in Korean food, culture and K-pop idol life, themes Cho has enthusiastically embraced during the movie’s publicity tour and awards season campaign.

Cho celebrated her 40th birthday in August as “Demon Hunters” was reaching peak popularity, a milestone she embraces proudly. “I think for women, sometimes people get shy to say that because they kind of think 40 is old,” she reflects. “But I have never felt younger and better about myself. I’ve never felt more comfortable in my skin. And I kind of want to run around and tell everyone that because I hope that it gives people hope that age is really just a number.”

With three film projects on the horizon—”Cheap AF,” “Joon” and “Perfect Girl”—plus a “KPop Demon Hunters” sequel slated for 2029, Arden Cho’s golden moment appears to be just the beginning of an enduring career.