Arden Cho

Arden Cho (born August 16, 1985)[1] is an American actress, singer and model best known for her role as Kira Yukimura on Teen Wolf.[2][3] She also played the lead in the 2010 short film Agents of Secret Stuff, presented by Ryan Higa and Wong Fu Productions.[4]

Arden Cho
Cho in 2019
Born (1985-08-16) August 16, 1985
Amarillo, Texas, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BA)
OccupationModel, actress, singer
Years active2006–present
AgentInnovative Artists

Early life

Cho was born in Amarillo, Texas to Korean-American parents and was raised in San Antonio and Plano, Texas.[4][5][6] Growing up in areas with few ethnic minorities, she often felt like an outsider. As a child, she was often bullied and was hospitalized twice for injuries after being physically attacked, saying that "I had two teeth knocked out, a chipped tooth, [and] I still wear a wire . . . my entire face was cut up. It was bad. It took me six months to completely recover." [2] She later attended high school at Apple Valley, Minnesota.[5]

Cho attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with intentions of becoming a lawyer.[7] It was there that she took her first drama classes and developed an interest in the profession, noting "theater was the first time I felt like I could open up and be someone I could only imagine to be."[8] There, she also became more exposed to the Asian American culture at large;[8] she also participated in Asian American Association's Fashion Show. She graduated with a degree in psychology in 2007 and spent the following summer on a medical missionary trip in Kenya.[6][9]

Career

Upon her return from Kenya, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked odd jobs while trying to pursue a career in acting. Although she did not have any screen credits at the time, her first agent took her on due to her resume of musical and physical talents, which included ballet, cello, piano, amongst others.[7] Cho has appeared in films, television series, and commercials in the United States and Asia.[10]

In 2008, Cho played the grown-up lead of Hyori (the younger version being played by Megan Lee) in the short film My First Crush, directed by Rocky Jo.[11]

In 2011, she appeared in the role of Pru, a friend of Paige McCullers (Lindsey Shaw) in Season 1, Episode 20 ("Someone to Watch Over Me"), of the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars.[12][13] She also appeared in the role of Gia in the monster film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, directed by Mary Lambert.

In 2014, Cho joined the TV series Teen Wolf as Kira, starting as a recurring character in season 3 but was promoted to a main cast role in season 4. In April 2016, ahead of her talk at University of Illinois at Chicago for Asian American Awareness Month, Cho posted a YouTube video on her personal channel revealing that she would not return for season 6 of Teen Wolf.[14][15]

In 2017, Cho was cast as a recurring character on season 3 of Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi's sister.[16]

YouTube

Cho was previously a part of the "Artichoke and Peachie" joint YouTube blogging channel with YouTuber Grace Su. The account has since been shut down.[17]

She has also appeared in the web series KTown Cowboys.[18]

She has her own YouTube channel, ardenBcho where she has over 300 videos, predominantly featuring vlogging, popular song covers and original music videos. She has over 500,000 subscribers as of February 2020.[19]

Modeling

Cho won the 2004 Miss Korea Chicago competition, giving her the opportunity to take part in the Miss Korea Pageant in Seoul.[8] At one point, she was in talks for a television show in Korea but walked away from the opportunity due to weight loss and plastic surgery requirements.[7]

In 2010, the cosmetic brand Clinique announced Cho as the model for their newest advertisement campaign in Asia. The campaign was launched in mid-November 2010. Clinique was reported to have stated that they "selected Cho not because she was Korean, but because she had the beauty to represent Asia".[20] Cho modeled for Reebok Korea in 2010 and for Nike Japan in 2008. She has also modeled for Apple and Alexander McQueen and appeared in Vogue, Purple Fashion and Nylon Magazine.[21]

Music

In 2010, Cho and Ktown Cowboys actor Shane Yoon were the MCs for the Korean music group JYJ's tour in the United States.[22]

In 2011, Cho released her first single, "I'm Just a Girl."[8] Cho was the co-writer, composer and singer; Ed Huang was co-writer and music producer. On February 25, 2011, Cho published a self-produced music video for the single onto YouTube, featuring Tim Lacatena.[23] Cho had plans to tour her debut EP My True Happy in 2013 before landing a recurring role on Teen Wolf.[2][3] Cho premiered her single "Simply" in September 2019.[3]

Business

It was announced on February 6, 2019 that Cho became CEO of Leonard & Church, a New York City-based watch company.[24]

Personal life

Cho is a Christian.[5] Cho is a black belt and grew up training with her father, who is a grandmaster.[4]

Cho is an avid poker player and has been playing since 2002. She competed in the 2018 World Series of Poker, placing 662nd with $21,750.[25]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Break-Up VIP Party Guest Uncredited
2008 My First Crush Hyori Short film
2008 Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors Miriam
2008 Spy Games Tanya Short film
2009 Layover, on the Shore Laura Short film
2009 Forgotten Jane Doe Short film
2009 When Lara Met Charlie Arden Short documentary film
2010 The Grey Coat Jae Hee Short film
2010 I Am Not a Princess Anastasia Short film
2010 Agents of Secret Stuff Taylor Short film
2010 Ninja Say What?! Short film
2011 Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Gia
2012 Mandevilla Min Young Kim Short film
2012 Picture Perfect[26] Leukemia awareness Short film for The Jubilee Project on YouTube
2013 Olympus Has Fallen Korean sniper Uncredited; also stunt performer
2013 The Baytown Outlaws Angel
2013 Saved by the Bell Jessie Spano Short film
2013 The Dressmaker's Daughter Barbara Kim Short film
2014 Write It in the Sky Voyager Short film
2016 Stuck Alicia also associate producer
2018 The Honor List Honor Liang

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Mad TV Supporting Role Season 13, Episode 11
2009 CSI: NY Gahee Paik Episode: "Communication Breakdown"
2011 Pretty Little Liars Pru Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me"
2011 Rizzoli & Isles Lee Episode: "My Own Worst Enemy"
2012 Walking the Halls Kylie Television film
2013 The Selection Elise Whisks Cancelled pilot
2014–2016 Teen Wolf Kira Yukimura Recurring role (season 3); main role (seasons 4–5); 44 episodes
2014 Castle Kiara Episode: "The Way of the Ninja"
2015 Hawaii Five-0 Mia Price Episode: "Kuka'awale (Stakeout)"
2016 Tween Fest Lexii C. Main role; 8 episodes
2017 Freakish Tonya Recurring role; 2 episodes
2017-2018 Miss 2059 Arden Young Main role (season 2); 11 episodes
2018–2019 Chicago Med Emily Choi Recurring role; 17 episodes

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Tomb Raider Samantha Nishimura/Stephanie/Sun Queen Voice role

Web series
Year Title Role Notes
2010 KTown Cowboys Sarah Recurring role; 4 episodes
2012 Video Game High School Korean TV Hostess Episode: "Shot Heard Round the World"

References
  1. Cho, Arden (2017-08-16). "Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! Feeling like I'm 12 today, thank you babiespic.twitter.com/1Kwvj9SPW4". @arden_cho. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. Low, Elaine (March 21, 2014). "Actress Arden Cho on 'Teen Wolf,' Being Bullied, and the Friend Zone". Mochi Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  3. BJ Panda Bear (September 27, 2019). "Flaunt Premiere | Arden Cho "SIMPLY"". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  4. CAAM (2014-10-15). "Arden Cho Grows up, and Kicks Butt, on "Teen Wolf"". CAAM Home. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  5. Yu, Phil (April 11, 2014). "Angry Reader of the Week: Arden Cho". Angry Asian Man. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  6. Ng, Natalie (2016-07-27). "Interview: Actress Arden Cho talks Teen Wolf, being Asian in Hollywood and proper representation on screen". Meld Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  7. Tseng, Ada (February 23, 2014). "Arden Cho has fans howling". iamkoream.com. KoreAm Magazine. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  8. Zhan, Julie (July 21, 2011). "Arden Cho Interview: "Don't be afraid to fail. Unless you fail, you will never really succeed."". The Other Asians. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015.
  9. "FASHION INFLUENCER—Arden Cho". College Fashionista. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  10. "News". ardencho.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  11. Kamel, Marina (March 27, 2011). "Adren Cho and Megan Lee Cover "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green (Glee Version)". Audrey Magazine. Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  12. Surname Undisclosed, Melody (March 9, 2011). "Arden Cho: A Pretty Little Liar". Audrey Magazine. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  13. Anatole, Emily (January 2010). "New Character to Guest Star on PLL". Wetpaint. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  14. ardenBcho (April 11, 2016), Goodbye Teenwolf, YouTube, retrieved April 12, 2016
  15. Petski, Denise (April 11, 2016). "Arden Cho Says Goodbye To 'Teen Wolf'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  16. Gelman, Vlada (2017-11-22). "Chicago Med Casts Teen Wolf Vet as Ethan's Troublemaker Sister". TVLine. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  17. Eun, Elizabeth (2010-11-03). "In Blog We Trust: Part I of III | iamkoream". iamkoream.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  18. "The Cast". KTown Cowboys. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  19. https://www.youtube.com/user/ardenBcho/featured
  20. Surname Undisclosed, Michelle (October 6, 2010). "The New Face of Clinique". iamkoream.com. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  21. Kim, Samuel (July 20, 2009). "Arden Cho". Korean American Christian Media. Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  22. Nguyen, Mai (November 30, 2010). "Asia Pacific Arts: Behind the Scenes of JYJ's The Beginning tour: an interview with Shane Yoon". Asia Pacific Arts Magazine. USC. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  23. "I'm Just a Girl by Arden Cho". channelapa.com. February 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  24. Leonard & Church [@leonardnchurch] (February 6, 2019). "Have you heard? @leonardandchurch has a new CEO — our very own @girlboss : @arden_cho" (Tweet). Retrieved April 8, 2019 – via Twitter.
  25. Chaffin, Sean (March 1, 2020). "The Big Stage: Actress Arden Cho Moonlights as a Poker Player at LAPC | World Poker Tour". World Poker Tour. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  26. Jubilee (June 6, 2012). "Picture Perfect - Jubilee Project Short Film" – via YouTube.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.