Arden Cho

About Arden Cho

Arden Cho (born August 16, 1985) is an American actress, singer and model, best known for her role as Kira Yukimura on Teen Wolf and as the speaking role for Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters. She starred in the 2011 feature Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. As a model, she worked mostly in Asia while she released an EP, My True Happy, in 2013.

Born in Amarillo, Texas to Korean-American parents, Cho spent most of her childhood years in Dallas and her late teenage years in Minnesota together with her younger brother. As a child, she was often a target for bullying 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." Growing up in areas with few ethnic minorities, she was made to feel like an outsider. She attended Apple Valley High School and was a highly involved student, saying that "My parents put me in dance classes, martial arts, sports, spelling bees, painting, music, cello; all sorts of things." It wasn't until she moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where she majored in psychology that she connected with her Asian American background. It was there that she attended 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".