You probably remember her as the overachieving, violin-playing Corki Chang. Or maybe you saw her as the "mean girl" soccer captain Bonnie Rockwaller in the live-action Disney remake. Either way, if you’ve been looking for erika tham movies and tv shows, you’ve likely noticed a weird gap in her resume.
She was everywhere for a minute. Then, she just... wasn't.
Honestly, it’s one of the most interesting pivots in recent teen-star history. Most actors who get a break on a massive network like Nickelodeon or Disney cling to that world for as long as possible. They do the sequel. They take the guest spot on the procedural drama. Erika did things differently. She took the momentum from being a TV lead and used it to fuel a total creative rebirth that had almost nothing to do with acting.
The Big Break: Make It Pop and the Nickelodeon Era
Basically, Erika’s career started with a fluke. She was 14, living in Thailand, and sent in a self-tape for a show called Make It Pop. She hadn't even done a professional audition before that. Suddenly, she's the lead in a musical comedy co-created by Nick Cannon.
The show was a massive deal for representation. It followed three girls—Sun Hi, Jodi, and Corki—who form a K-pop-inspired band called XO-IQ while at boarding school. Erika played Corki, the "brains" of the group. While her character played the violin on screen, Erika is actually a trained cellist in real life. That musicality wasn't just a prop; it was the foundation of everything she’d do later.
During this time, she was also part of the broader Nickelodeon family. You might spot her in:
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- The Ho Ho Holiday Special (2015): One of those classic multi-cast variety specials.
- The Other Kingdom (2016): She had a guest role as "Quirky" in the episode "Get a Job."
Disney and Beyond: The Kim Possible Pivot
After Make It Pop wrapped up its two-season run in 2016, things got quiet for a second. Then 2019 happened. This was a huge year for anyone tracking erika tham movies and tv shows because it showed she had range beyond the "nice girl" trope.
She landed the role of Bonnie Rockwaller in the Kim Possible live-action movie. If you grew up with the cartoon, you know Bonnie is the ultimate foil to Kim. Playing a villainous, competitive soccer captain was a complete 180 from Corki Chang. Erika has mentioned in interviews that the soccer scenes were actually the hardest part—she wasn't exactly a pro athlete in school, and looking like a varsity captain took some serious work.
Around that same time, she appeared in the FOX series Star. She played Amber in several episodes of the third season (episodes 15, 17, and 18). This was a much more mature environment than Nickelodeon. Star was a gritty musical drama, and it gave her a chance to record "All To Myself," a track that started to hint at her future sound.
A Quick Look at the Credits
If you're making a watchlist, here are the essential erika tham movies and tv shows:
1. Make It Pop (2015–2016) The definitive Erika Tham role. She’s in all 42 episodes as Corki Chang. It’s bubbly, it’s musical, and it’s the reason she has a dedicated fanbase today.
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2. Kim Possible (2019) The Disney Channel Original Movie where she plays Bonnie. It’s fun to watch her play the antagonist.
3. Star (2019) Her most "grown-up" TV role as Amber. This is where she really started bridging the gap between being a TV actress and a recording artist.
4. The Stanford Letter (2016/2019)
A shorter project that often gets missed on IMDb but is worth a hunt if you’re a completionist.
The "Missing" Years: Why She Stopped Acting
So, why aren't there more movies?
It’s not because she couldn't get work. It was a choice. Erika has been very open about the fact that she never had creative control in the acting world. She was playing characters written by other people, wearing clothes chosen by stylists, and singing songs that fit a corporate brand.
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She moved to LA, taught herself piano, and started writing her own music.
This wasn't just a "teen star tries to sing" phase. She teamed up with heavy hitters like Brian Kennedy (who worked with Rihanna) and Major Myjah. Her music—songs like "Admit It," "Shhh," and the 2025 release "Take Me"—is a massive departure from her TV days. It’s R&B-heavy, seductive, and incorporates traditional Asian instrumentation like the Guzheng as a nod to her Chinese-Malaysian heritage.
What's Next for Erika Tham?
If you're waiting for a Make It Pop reboot or another Disney movie, you might be waiting a while. Erika seems 100% focused on her identity as a singer-songwriter right now.
However, her acting background still leaks into her work. If you watch her music videos, they aren't just performances; they’re highly stylized short films. She treats every "character" in her songs with the same detail she used to bring to a TV set.
For those of us following her career, the takeaway is pretty clear. She isn't interested in being "the girl from that show" anymore. She’s building a brand that is authentic to her adult self—multicultural, musically sophisticated, and entirely on her own terms.
Actionable Next Steps
- Watch the Evolution: Start with an episode of Make It Pop on Paramount+ and then jump straight to the "Take Me" music video on YouTube. The contrast is wild.
- Check the Guest Spots: If you haven't seen her in Star, find those Season 3 episodes. It's the "missing link" between her Nickelodeon era and her current music career.
- Follow the Sound: If you like the Asian-inspired R&B sounds she uses, look into her interviews where she talks about blending her Dutch, Ukrainian, and Chinese-Malaysian roots into her production.
The story of Erika Tham isn't about a child star who faded away; it's about an artist who outgrew the box she was put in. Whether she returns to the screen for a Marvel movie (her dream role, apparently) or stays in the recording studio, she's definitely done with being "just" a TV character.