A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate stars in Netflix’s most popular original movie.
KPop Demon Hunters has overtaken other originals from the platform like Bird Box, Don’t Look Up and Red Notice. The animated film is about three pop stars who sing by day and slay demons by night.
Arden Cho is the voice actress for Rumi, the lead singer of the group and the main character of the movie. Cho attended college at U of I.
IPM’s Emily Hays sat down with the actress for an exclusive interview.
EMILY HAYS: It is so fun to get to talk to a star from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. You were born in Texas and grew up in San Antonio and Plano. How did you end up at U of I?
ARDEN CHO: Oh, man, I always joke and say that when my parents immigrated to America, my dad was like, ‘I’m gonna go to the biggest state.’ And he chose Texas. We were in Amarillo, Texas. My dad taught Taekwondo, and he also had a very entrepreneurial spirit, so we moved around a lot. We were hustling. He was hustling. We went from all around Texas to Minnesota.
When I was in Minnesota, I remember when it came time to apply for colleges and universities, I’m a big scaredy cat, so I didn’t want to go anywhere far. I think I applied to University of Minnesota, [University of Michigan] and University of Illinois, and ended up at University of Illinois, which I think is such an important part of how I became who I am today.
This sounds weird. I grew up my whole life thinking I was American, but thinking I was white. I didn’t know what it meant to be Korean American at the time. There weren’t a lot of Asian Studies [departments]. There wasn’t a lot of Korean American identity stuff. I didn’t really know what any of that meant. And again, I’m from Apple Valley, Minnesota, where I think I was legitimately the only Korean person. And if there were Asians, they were a lot of adopted Koreans. So their parents are white, so they’re basically white, everyone’s Caucasian. So I think in my mind I just really didn’t know, and you know as a kid, you want to be like everybody else.
But in at University of Illinois, I actually ended up meeting a ton of international students and a lot of really cool other Korean American kids, and being like, ‘Wait, you guys are like me. Your parents are Korean. My parents are Korean. I think I’m Korean!’ I didn’t know anything about Korea or Korean culture. I didn’t speak Korean at the time. I remembered I wanted to join KASA, the Korean American Student Association, but I wasn’t Korean enough to be a part of it. So then I joined the Asian American Association but I also felt like I still wasn’t Asian American enough to be a part of it. You know, there are people who are really into their Asian culture, and they very much know, but I think I wasn’t aware, and I didn’t learn a lot of it growing up. And so it was a huge learning experience. I joke now — I don’t know if I can say this — I became friends with a lot of Koreans, because I would help them with all their papers and essays. And then in trade, they would teach me some Korean, you know, just as kids.
It was decades ago, but I feel like I learned to embrace my Korean culture in college and learn so much about the Asian culture.
It was my first time having bubble tea, my first time trying pho, first time trying real sushi.
I mean, yeah, I look like this, but I was basically a Southern country gal that liked fried chicken, steak and mashed potatoes. And now I feel like I’m so Korean. I only cook Korean food and Asian food. I’m almost fully fluent in Korean. Now I read and write, I speak. And I’m a little proud when sometimes I’m a bit passing in Korea where they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, your English is really great.’ And I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ [laughs] I’m not offended at all. I’m very honored that they think my Korean is good enough that I must be Korean. And they’re just impressed that I can speak perfect English.
It’s really such an honor, because for the longest time, no matter how much I worked at my Korean — and I’m talking, I would watch hours and hours of nonstop K-drama, listen to so much K-pop music to learn and to get the pronunciation perfect. I really truly feel media is the best way to learn a language, but again, it took almost 20 years.
HAYS: You’ve been a star on YouTube, in the supernatural drama series Teen Wolf and in the Netflix show Partner Track. After starring in KPop Demon Hunters, how is this moment different for you?
CHO: We’re talking at the perfect time, because about two weeks ago, I was thinking I know this. This is similar. It’s similar to that Teen Wolf fandom love. I experienced a lot of love with Avatar, and I experienced a ton of love with Partner Track. Partner Track was the first time I saw my face on billboards. I got to be in Times Square on that huge, huge media screen for two months. I thought I made it as a Korean American girl, to be head to toe on those screens. I think that was such an incredible moment. But then once the show was canceled, I felt like a disappointment. I felt like a failure. I felt like maybe that’s it. Maybe my moments were, Teen Wolf, a hot second for Partner Track and Avatar. But I only exist in the Avatar world to really support our leads. I’m happy to support because it’s such an incredible show for Asian Americans and such a cool world to be a part of.
I remember a few weeks ago meeting a ton of fans, and a lot of the fans were like, ‘I’ve loved you since Teen Wolf. I’ve loved you since YouTube. I love Partner Track. We love that Rumi is like this.’
I felt like it was a lot of overlap in a sense, and then only in the last week, it has hit me that this is a whole new level. This is something that I have never experienced in my career.
This is something that I feel like a lot of people never get to experience in their career. Something I never even dreamed of because I didn’t think it was possible for a little Asian girl like me, right? I moved to LA in 2007 just hoping to be on TV a couple times and hoping to represent for the Asian girls out there. I wanted to represent for the Midwest and say we could do it.
I don’t want to say I was satisfied, but I was okay with what I had done until now. But then in the last week — I just got back from New York. We just lit up the Empire State Building to dance to our soundtrack, to dance to “Golden,” and we had people all over the streets of New York dancing and singing to the song with — I might be a little biased but I think the most beautiful light show I have ever seen on the Empire State Building. They did a phenomenal job. They really knew the movie. They chose all the right colors. It was all our girls, all of HUNTR/X represented. I feel like I’ve been crying all weekend because it feels like such a dream. It feels so incredible, and again, to be a part of a movie that brings so much joy and so much hope and happiness to everyone. This is the magic of movies, right?
This is why people make movies. I think sometimes people in the business forget that, because this business is not easy. I’m 20-plus years here, and it’s not easy. A lot of times we forget to hope and we forget to dream, because you’re busy working, you’re busy in the grind.
I think for the first time in my career, I’m at this point where I’m in awe and celebrating with the fans. Everyone working on this movie is just as excited and elated and happy as the fans are. We’re truly celebrating together. We’re dancing together, singing together, and it’s just so beautiful. To sort be on every news channel, to be on every social video. My phone is blowing up from all generations of my life, people I haven’t talked to in like 10, 20 years, everyone being like, ‘This is an incredible moment.’ And of course, to have people who I look up to so much, who I respect so greatly, being like, ‘We’re so proud that as Korean Americans, who have also been in this business or been in this world for so long, we’re proud that you get to be a representative or like pioneer this movement.’ And I’m like, wait what? I didn’t even sign up for that. And I don’t know, can I even claim that?
It’s all sort of happening as we speak, but I again, just feel so honored to be a part of this project. I feel so excited for what it means for the future of storytelling and movies. Netflix just broke records releasing in the theater two months after we were globally loved online. I think statistically, people would have thought that’s impossible. I think nobody could have predicted this. We’re hitting a new stat or a new high every day. Our musicians are basically the hottest singers of all time. Right now, our vocalists are top of charts for everything. Our producers and writers, Maggie and Chris, our directors, are on a world tour because everybody’s talking about KPop Demon Hunters. And now it’s a beast of its own. Trying to comprehend it all is day by day right now, something new every day. It’s just so, so incredible.
HAYS: Whenever there’s a breakthrough for Asian American representation, like Crazy Rich Asians, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, or the dark comedy Beef, many wonder whether that will open doors – meaning decrease discrimination in Hollywood. Do you see that happening after KPop Demon Hunters?
I want to say yes, because I don’t think this is just for Asian Americans. I’m a huge animation lover. I love movies. I love the whole experience.
But I think so often I see female leads, girls, can only be strong, or they can only be beautiful and perfect. I feel something that Maggie and Chris were able to accomplish with HUNTR/X is they really have it all. They are strong, they are talented, they are beautiful. They are fearless, but then they’re all so vulnerable. They’re funny, they’re girls, they’re silly, they’re cute. They’re insecure. They have it all, and I think that’s what makes them so relatable to everyone, regardless of gender or age. Everyone looks at HUNTR/X and says, I’m like Rumi. I’m like Mira. Or they look at Saja Boys and they go, I’m Jinu. I think that is some phenomenal storytelling and character development and writing to make our characters so complex and dynamic.
On top of that, this is a very specific story. They are Korean and Korean American. This is in Korea. Korean culture is literally sprinkled throughout the entire movie, but it’s also like the foundation of the film. We see COEX, we see Namsan Tower. We see the streets of Gangnam. We see the Korean subway station. The speaker in this announcement in the subway is in Korean. The girls mix Korean in the dialog and in the music.
Korean is so seamlessly throughout the movie that it makes an audience who might not know Korean culture feel like they know Korean culture now. They’re learning about Korea. They’re learning about Korean culture in the coolest way possible, and loving it. They’re seeing our food. They’re seeing our fashion. This animation in particular has the most costume changes for any animation ever, and that’s something that is a nod to K-pop idols, which is something they do very, very well. Fashion, beauty – Korea’s the best at it.
There’s so much of the Korean culture in this movie, very specifically, that if it doesn’t show the world that specific stories, narratives that are strong about a culture or people we don’t know about can 100% be successful, if this message is not clear, I don’t know how else or what else we could do to show that.
Like with Teen Wolf, I remember seeing a ton of Asian girls dressed up as Kira and couple non-Asians, but this is the first time that I have seen more non-Asians dressed up as Rumi, Mira and Zoe than I have for anything. Everyone, regardless of race, wants to be the girls, want to be HUNTR/X, and they are definitely Korean. I thank the animators and artists for making it very clear that they’re Korean. This is so meaningful to so many Asian Americans, Koreans, Korean Americans, and women. A lot of the messages I’m getting, again, from industry people is all in the same realm of this is really big for us. That’s all just beginning to process for me in the last week. This weekend and this week has been insane.
HAYS: The character you play in KPop Demon Hunters is everywhere. I’ve seen artists on social media drawing Rumi in their own style, covering her dances, styling their hair in her long purple braid. Who inspired your portrayal of her?
CHO: I can’t take credit for any of that. That is the artists, the animators, our directors creating Rumi’s beauty.
For me as an actor, when I was finding Rumi’s voice, I received a ton of direction from Maggie and Chris. They’ve been working on this movie for years and years before I became involved. I really was following a lot of their lead, but I think inevitably so much of myself goes into it, especially in some of the big dramatic scenes with Celine or when Rumi breaks down.
I thought a lot about my career and my life, and how tough it’s been to try to always be perfect, to always do it right, and to always make everyone happy. And I feel like Rumi feels a lot of that pressure.
I felt a lot of pressure taking on a role like Rumi because I really wanted to respect her and honor her and make her truly the best. I think I had a lot of imposter syndrome throughout this whole project, because I kept thinking, ‘Am I good enough? Can I even do this? I’m sure there’s someone better for it than I.’ It was one of those things where, even though I had auditioned, even though it was something that it wasn’t given to me. I auditioned for this, and I fought for this as much as any other actor does for their roles.
I thought of a lot of my friends that work so tirelessly in Korea, who are so talented and work so hard to be these “perfect idols.” What it takes to be perfect, you make a lot of sacrifices, and it’s tough. I thought of a lot of that, and I also wanted to give Rumi a lot of strength. So I thought of a lot of hero girls I saw growing up. I wanted her to be everything. I wanted her to be how she was written. She was written in such a fun way, where even though she was a leader and she was perfect, she was funny, she was silly, she was awkward, and she was hiding something. I just tried to be genuine and authentic to who I thought Rumi was, and I really do believe her voice was found collectively.
HAYS: You’ve mentioned in the past that K-pop band Blackpink and solo artist IU are some of your favorites. Do you have any top songs you’re listening to this week?
CHO: I’ve got to be honest, I think for the last couple months, it’s just the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. It’s everywhere. It’s what everyone wants to listen to. It’s amazing. Even my own glam team, I’m like, ‘Aren’t you guys sick of it now?’ But even when we’re getting ready, that’s all they want to listen to. And it’s such an honor. We can’t escape it. The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is literally the entire chart. But I won’t lie, I’m still listening to Blackpink and Lisa and Jennie, and I’m still listening to BTS. And I love aespa. I love all girl power songs.
I love anything that uplifts and makes you feel like, ‘Yeah, I can do that! I’m the best!’ I don’t talk about this often. Not a lot of people know this, but I am actually quite introverted, and I think why I love acting is because acting, I get to be someone I’m not. I get to be a cooler version. I get to be the coolest girl. I get to be Rumi. I can never be Rumi, but my voice gets to be Rumi.
I think with music, it’s sort of always been something that is so powerful and special to me. I listen to music to get me into the right vibe or the character. Even for this movie, it was so important every time I would do the sessions.
Because we’re not getting into hair and makeup, it’s hard to feel cool and awesome. I would listen to a lot of K-pop. I know I don’t feel it, but I gotta tell myself, I’m like 2NE1. I’m the hottest sh**.
I am Blackpink. I am aespa. I was just telling myself that I am these girls so that I could make sure Rumi was really strong and confident and cool.
As an actor, I always tell people, you need your hair, you need your makeup, you need your wardrobe and styling team, and you need the shoes. I know it sounds silly, but for some reason, when I’m not in the right shoes, I never feel like the girl. But with voiceover, it’s different, because it’s just our voice. Oftentimes we have to be in very comfortable clothes, no accessories, no shoes that make noise, because we don’t want all that extra sound. And it was interesting to find that without having all of the help. Really, really fun.