Advertisement
TV shows and streaming video
LifestyleEntertainment

How KPop Demon Hunters gave Arden Cho her golden moment after years of acting heartbreak

Years of failing to find decent acting roles nearly broke Arden Cho. Her role as Rumi in Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters has changed everything

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Arden Cho voices the lead character Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters, the all-time most-streamed movie on Netflix. The Associated Press has just named her one of the “breakthrough entertainers of 2025”. Photo: AP
Associated Press

Three years ago, Arden Cho was ready to walk away from acting. She had landed her first lead role in the Netflix series Partner Track, only to see it cancelled after one season. She was heartbroken.

Her agent would not let her quit. “She refused to say ‘You’re done.’ She just kept sending me things,” Cho recalls. “She just [kept] being like, ‘Look, I know you’re not auditioning. I know you’re done, but I think you’d like this.’”

Now, Cho is juggling multiple projects after voicing the lead character Rumi in Netflix’s animated summertime sensation KPop Demon Hunters. The film has become the most-streamed movie on the platform and spawned the earworms “Golden” and “Soda Pop” as its soundtrack dominated pop charts.
Advertisement

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

(From left) Characters Mira, Rumi and Zoey in a scene from KPop Demon Hunters. Photo: Netflix via AP
(From left) Characters Mira, Rumi and Zoey in a scene from KPop Demon Hunters. Photo: Netflix via AP

The timing feels almost cosmic. Netflix announced that KPop Demon Hunters was its most-watched movie ever on August 26 – exactly three years after it began streaming Partner Track.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x