Arden Cho is an American actress, singer and model best known for her role as Kira Yukimura on Teen Wolf. She also played the lead in the 2010 short film Agents of Secret Stuff, presented by Ryan Higa and Wong Fu Productions.
Early life
Cho was born in Amarillo, Texas to Korean-American parents and was raised in San Antonio and Plano, Texas. 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, I still wear a wire... my entire face was cut up. It was bad. It took me six months to completely recover." She later attended high school at Apple Valley, Minnesota. Cho attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with intentions of becoming a lawyer. 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." There, she also became more exposed to the Asian American cultureat large; 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.
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. Cho has appeared in films, television series, and commercials in the United States and Asia. In 2008, Cho played the grown-up lead of Hyori in the short film My First Crush, directed by Rocky Jo. In 2011, she appeared in the role of Pru, a friend of Paige McCullers in Season 1, Episode 20, of the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars. She also appeared in the role of Gia in the monster filmMega 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. In 2017, Cho was casted as a recurring character on season 3 of Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi's sister.
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. She has also appeared in the web seriesKTown Cowboys. 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.
Modeling
Cho won the 2004 Miss Korea Chicago competition, giving her the opportunity to take part in the Miss Korea Pageant in Seoul. 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. 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". 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.
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. In 2011, Cho released her first single, "I'm Just a Girl." 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. Cho had plans to tour her debut EP My True Happy in 2013 before landing a recurring role on Teen Wolf. Cho premiered her single "Simply" in September 2019.
Business
It was announced on February 6, 2019 that Cho became CEO of Leonard & Church, a New York City-based watch company.
Personal life
Cho is a Christian. Cho is a black belt and grew up training with her father, who is a grandmaster. 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.
