Teen Wolf’s Arden Cho Rejected Movie Offer Because Her Pay Was Half Of White Co-Stars

Arden Cho was abruptly fired from the show “Teen Wolf” in 2016. Arden was the only Asian actor among the main cast. The Teen Wolf actress recently refused to return to the show, revealing that she was offered “less than half the per-episode salary” as the other white actors who were asked to return.

Last September, it was announced that the 2011 MTV series Teen Wolf would return to the big screen in the form of a new movie. On February 15, Paramount+ released the cast list for the highly anticipated film Teen Wolf: The Movie, which is set to be released later this year. Despite the fact that many familiar faces returned, fans were disappointed to learn that three of the show’s main characters had declined to appear in the upcoming film.

Dylan O’Brien, who played Stiles, Tyler Hoechlin, who played Derek Hale, and Arden Cho, who played thunder kitsune Kira Yukimura, were not among the returning actors. Arden played Kira for more than half of the show’s six-season run. Kira and her background as a kitsune, which first appeared in season 3, became central to the show’s plot, as did her Japanese and Korean ancestry, as well as East Asian mythology. Kira not only won fans’ hearts with her strong feminist persona throughout seasons 4 and 5, but she also became memorable as Scott’s love interest.

However, Deadline reported on Tuesday that Arden had declined the opportunity to reprise her role after being offered “half the per-episode salary proposed to her three counterparts.” We can assume that the three counterparts in question are the other women in the leading cast: Crystal Reed, Holland Roden, and Shelley Hennig.

“According to sources, Cho, the only actress of color among the four female series regular cast members who played the group of teen friends at the center of the show, was offered half the per-episode salary proposed to her three counterparts, leading to her decision to pass.”

Given that Arden is the only Asian actor in this group and the entire leading cast, fans immediately questioned identity politics, given that race and gender disparities are unfortunately not uncommon in the entertainment industry.

“They’re only offering, the only Asian woman, HALF the salary compared to the other, white, female casts? Go to hell.”

“That’s so fu*king disturbing how do you call someone up then have the audacity to offer them half the pay of their white co-stars!!! Crystal’s character has been dead & she was still offered more to return as a fucking ghost!!! Naur that’s way too disrespectful.”

Some users went on to accuse the show’s creator, Jeff Davis, of exploiting Arden’s East Asian heritage for the sake of the plot, despite the fact that it was central to the seasons in which she appeared.

“The way this show and Jeff Davis consistently treated Arden Cho like trash is insane. They used Korean and East Asian culture when it was convenient to their plot but discarded every Asian character so easily.”

As the reported news spread on Twitter, outraged fans continued to express their displeasure. Several people quickly pointed out that Dylan O’Brien liked a tweet about Arden declining the role due to the pay disparity, presumably in support of his former co-star.

“The fact that Dylan obrien liked a retweet of this speaks volumes.”

“This is shocking. They should’ve given her a bigger bag because damn it she gave her all in every performance when she was on that show.”

“Kira was the most interesting character, and they had the audacity to push her aside like some nobody,” one user wrote, adding that she had “limited screen time” and was “left out of the show in the last season.”

Kira has been mistreated despite her talents, and her supporters are fighting for her. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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