Arden Cho on Telling a Deeper Asian American Story with Partner Track

When Arden Cho watched herself in Partner Track for the first time, she started to cry. It was during an ADR (Automated or Additional Dialog Replacement) session, and the 37-year-old actor couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. "I'm walking down Manhattan and the cameras are on me," Cho said. In the Netflix legal drama, Cho stars as series lead Ingrid Yun. She is a first-generation Korean American lawyer, and one who is hell-bent on making partner. Playing this particular character in this particular show is an opportunity of a lifetime for the actor. "I feel like it's still not real," she told TV Guide ahead of Partner Track's premiere. "It won't feel real until I click play on Netflix." 

Now, Cho can watch the show on the platform, since its ten episodes released on Aug. 26. Based on Helen Wan's novel The Partner Track and developed by Georgia Lee, the series follows Ingrid as she strives to make partner at a prestigious law firm. As she pursues her goal in a workplace that has predominantly advanced white, male lawyers, Ingrid is also caught in a love triangle between fellow attorney Jeff Murphy (Dominic Sherwood) and one of New York City's most eligible bachelors, Nick Laren (Rob Heaps). She must juggle her dating life with her career  — not to mention her family relationships which come with some heavy expectations. 

Partner Track shows Ingrid on an honest journey of trying to do it all. Playing a multidimensional character like her is something Cho has been waiting for. The actor took on various minor parts beginning in 2008 before landing the role of Kira Yukimura on Teen Wolf, which she starred in between 2014 and 2016. Cho did not return for the show's sixth season, and earlier this year Deadline reported that she passed on appearing in Teen Wolf The Moviebecause she was offered half the per-episode salary proposed to her three counterparts. "I think I was actually offered even less," Cho told The Cut in a later interview.

Not receiving proper recognition for her work is something Cho has experienced, and it's also all too familiar to Ingrid in Partner Track. TV Guide spoke to Cho about how the actor relates to her character in the Netflix series, what it was like to integrate elements from her Korean background into the show, and what it means to tell "a deeper Asian American story."

You recently made a social media post about Partner Track saying, "Who knew this little Asian girl would have billboards in Times Square & Hollywood, be the #1 on a @Netflix show & get to tell the story of what life is like for girls like me here in America…" How is Ingrid's story similar to what life is like for you here?
Arden Cho: There are definitely a lot of similarities. She is first-generation, she's got parents that want the best for her and obviously equal opportunity. And even though she's gone to law school and done all the hard work, there are still microaggressions, racism, sexism, all of that. And I think for me — definitely a different route, not a lawyer — but as an actor working in entertainment and business and just being in America, we experience that every day. All the time. There are lot of those moments that are hard to explain, and hard to exactly say what it is. But it's those almost unspoken moments, where you just know that something is different, or you just don't feel like you're seen the same and frankly, sometimes invisible, and I feel like a lot of times in life I felt invisible, or I felt like I didn't matter, or I felt like I didn't get credit for a lot of my hard work or things I had done. And I feel quite often when I'm Ingrid that she is not given credit or taken seriously. And so there are definitely similarities, but big differences as well.

What are some of those differences?
Cho: She is fierce, she's fiery, I feel like I didn't get that kind of confidence or energy until much later in life and I was definitely afraid of rocking the boat or being too loud. I guess I was afraid to speak up for myself for so much of my life. I feel like with Ingrid, she really wants to get in there with the boys. Even though it's this man's world, she's like, "Oh, no, I belong here." So I love that confidence. But I feel like the ways we're different is that she's still trying to find herself through all of this. And I think because she's in this really fast-paced, tough world, she hasn't really sat down to say, who am I? Or who am I trying to be? Who am I trying to prove myself to? And I feel like that's what that first season is about, it's finding her true self. I feel like for me, as much as in my younger years, there were definitely moments where I was such a perfectionist, and I was similar to Ingrid, I feel like for the last 10 years of my life or so I've been way more of you know what, if people don't like it, they don't like it. And if it's not me, it's just not me. This is who I am. And I'm not like every Asian girl that you think or I'm not that stereotype. And maybe I'm not that nice. Or maybe I don't want to do all the work and not get credit for it. I feel like Ingrid's still figuring it out. 

I listened to the Twitter Spaces a few weeks ago where you talked about how the team changed up Ingrid from being Chinese American in Helen Wan's book to Korean American in the series. Can you talk more about that process?
Cho: It was definitely really a very thought-out process. It wasn't something that they were like, oh, Chinese American, Korean American. It wasn't an easy change. But it was very thoughtful and very clear and aware that it's different. We have our differences, especially culturally, when we think about holidays or family experiences and conversations. But it was the idea that this is about a woman experience, an experience of what it feels like, being an Asian American woman in a male-dominated, cutthroat work environment. And, of course, when I first was aware of the project, I was intimidated and thought, "Oh, well, I'm not right for this. I'm not Chinese American, I don't speak Mandarin. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not that smart." I just didn't feel like I was right for Ingrid. But there was so much encouragement, and once I started getting into the project, and we did put the work in and fall in love with the story and the book and everything. And then I was like, "Oh, I could be Ingrid." And then of course, after the whole audition experience as all the actors do, and after we finally get there, then you have the great conversations with the team and the creator. And Georgia was so encouraging sharing her stories. As we got to know each other we realized even though she was Chinese American, and I was Korean American, we had so many similar experiences. Even with our families, we had a lot of similar feelings. And I think that was what we're trying to show with this story is what it feels like to be an Asian American woman in a field that might not be where we're the norm, or we're the expected. And what it means to be a woman who is strong, bold, fierce, intelligent. Like all the things we want to be, right? Ingrid sort of captivates it all and is unapologetic about it — or learns to be unapologetic about it. It's that journey. 

The series mentions holidays like Chuseok and foods like japchae. What was it like having things from your culture be a part of this story?
Cho: It was wonderful. The writers, the creators, everyone did their research, everyone was very, very thoughtful and kind in the process. And I love that it wasn't hard, it was fun. And when I showed up, and I saw the props team had set it up beautifully, I was like, "Oh my gosh, my mom would be proud." She'd see this. And yeah, it was fun. Because we would talk about, what Chuseok was like, and how it's different from Harvest Moon Festival, or how it's different from different cultures and what might be the main dish. It was nice with the writers and Georgia, we started like a little email chain and I'd be like, "Oh, my mom makes this. But sometimes my grandma would make this and this is different." And then it was really fun actually, to talk with my mom. And she'd be like, "We don't do that anymore, that's just too much trouble." And I'm like, "But isn't that traditional?" She goes, "Yeah, but nobody really does that anymore." So it's really fun too to see what traditions are kept with the first-generation Koreans versus maybe in Korea. and Ingrid's family, being a first-generation, we get to sort of mix and match and it feels real and fun.

After the trailer dropped, there were discussions about the dynamics of Asian women being partnered with white men in media. I wanted to ask what you make of that.
Cho: It's interesting because I understand the worry and the fear. That we're portraying something that has sort of always been the stereotype that we might not love, or we might feel discriminated. And I get that, because for so much of entertainment, Asian women were oppressed, have been oppressed, and still are. We're the other, we're that bad woman that someone might cheat with, or the vixen or this very sexualized character. But to me, this is so different. These men aren't necessarily even choosing Ingrid, what I love about Ingrid is that she's choosing, this is her world. And right now, we're painting that world of this M&A office of a male-dominated field, a lot of white men, and I get it. But this is just the world that we're trying to show of what it looks like and her experiences. And this is one story. This is not every Asian American female story, this is one, just Ingrid. And it's her world of what we're seeing her experience. And to me, it's different. It's not just Asian female, white male, it's not just that. I feel like it's so much more about their personalities and her personality and what she's trying to figure out and the stories that are being told, and also her love interests. And it's a journey, not to spoil it, obviously, but it is something that I feel like you've just got to go on the ride with to see what happens. And our writers are very thoughtful, creative, deep. It's a beautiful, diverse team of very talented writers, who are very aware. It's honestly, it's refreshing, how aware they are, and how good they are at their jobs. And so I trust, I have faith. And while we were filming, I was like I see it. I see where this is going. This is Ingrid finding herself, figuring out who she is. And it's her experience.

Thank you for sharing that. Going back to your post about who knew this little Asian girl would have billboards in Times Square & Hollywood/be the #1 on a Netflix show, when I read that I thought of your "Letter to My Chosens" YouTube video from 2017. In that video you talked about your 10-year anniversary of being in L.A. and the disappointment of not being where you hoped to be in your acting career. I'm wondering, how have you felt about your decision to pursue acting in the years since? How did this project impact that?
Cho: I feel like there were so many times in my career, more times than I can count, that I would quit or give up and just be like, alright, this is it, I can't do it anymore. Or all the no's are tough, and there's just not an opportunity that I want to do. You know, there's not enough stories that we fit for that I fit for. But God had other plans and Partner Track is sort of my dream story. I mean, what more could I have asked for to play this incredible woman who is fighting for something so real, so good. And honestly, it's still, I can't believe it. I can't believe that this is happening and that people are gonna see this story or see me.

It's really special and I'm very thankful that it happened in my time. I think there were a lot of moments in my career that I thought the world just isn't ready for these stories yet. Or it will happen, maybe later. I hope I get to play someone's mom on TV. And I get to be a part of telling a deeper Asian American story. I am just beyond grateful to have this opportunity. And that Netflix saw promise in a story like this, and that Helen wrote this book, and that Georgia created this. I mean, there are so many magical pieces that had to come together for this to happen

Partner Track is available to stream.