What’s ‘Partner Track’ Star Arden Cho Watching?
Arden Cho loves a marathon TV session. When she and her friend decided to watch beloved Korean romance series Crash Landing on You, about a rich South Korean heiress who accidentally paraglides into North Korea (just go with it), they watched the entire thing in one sitting — all 16 hour-and-a-half-long episodes.
“I didn’t even look at my phone for a day and a half,” the Partner Track star tells Tudum.
For the past decade, Cho — a Korean American born and raised in Texas — has been hooked on K-dramas, even improving her Korean to the point where she didn’t need English subtitles anymore. She just needs all the episodes to be out before she presses play.
Next up in Cho’s queue is Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a K-drama about a lawyer with autism that has ranked No. 1 on Netflix’s non-English charts for weeks. At the time she spoke with Tudum, the series hadn’t finished airing, but she was prepared to press play as soon as it did. “The second the finale comes out, don’t call me. Don’t talk to me. I’m watching the whole show,” she says.
Here’s what other K-dramas Cho has been watching — or rewatching (“there’s always something you pick up the second time”) — lately.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
On the surface, this drama about a children’s book author in love with a psychiatric ward caretaker doesn’t sound scary. But there are some gothic elements that a scaredy-cat like Cho couldn’t handle alone — at least on her first watch. “I get scared really easily, so the first two episodes I had to have my friends over and was like, ‘You guys have to stay and watch,’ and then they’re like, ‘Well, it’s getting late. I have to go,’” she explains. “I kept my friend at my house so late. I was five episodes in and my friend’s nearly sleeping on the couch, and I’m like, ‘Can you just stay a little longer? I’m scared.’ And it’s funny because they’re like, ‘This isn’t even scary.’” Thankfully, “the second time I was less scared.”
Crash Landing on You
“One of my best friends from Hawaii was at my house, and we were so emotional. We cried so much, it was ridiculous,” Cho says of her day-long marathon. “I know it’s sick, but we literally only stopped to order pizza at one point, but we didn’t sleep for a day and a half. We watched it all in one go.”
Start-Up
In this drama, an aspiring tech entrepreneur battles the cutthroat tech industry while juggling a love triangle (naturally). “I recently watched it again just because I feel like it’s so inspiring,” says Cho. “I love Start-Up.”
Thirty-Nine
The story about love, life and friendship as told through the bond between three friends about to turn 40 will inspire plenty of emotions. “Oh my goodness, get ready to cry,” Cho warns.
Squid Game
Like the rest of the world, Cho watched this commentary on capitalism that features competitors playing deadly children’s games in the hopes of winning a jackpot. “I really want to be on Squid Game,” Cho says of the upcoming second season. “Please hire me. Let me be in one of those episodes.”
The King: Eternal Monarch
This fantasy series follows a present-day emperor who passes through a mysterious portal into a parallel world. “I’m usually not into those magical types of shows, but I really enjoyed it,” says Cho. “It was so fun.”
