- Ashley Park plays Mindy Chen in Emily in Paris, a new show from Sex and the City creator Darren Star.
- Park is a Tony Award-nominated Broadway star best known for Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls.
- Speaking to OprahMag.com, Park says that filming Emily in Paris was "life-changing."
If Ashley Park had any say in the matter, the new Netflix show Emily in Paris would be called Ashley in Paris. While filming the series in the City of Lights, Park says she experienced parallels to the fictional Emily Cooper, the titular Midwestern transplant played by Lily Collins.
"I came into my own, just as Emily was discovering who she is. The running joke on set was, 'What's going on in Ashley in Paris? I was living what Emily was, in real time," Park says. "The show is genuine and authentic because the energy is truly there, and I was living it."
Park was especially struck by the contrast between Paris and New York, the city she calls home. The 29-year-old has made a name for herself while headlining Broadway shows like The King and I and Mean Girls.
"I come from one of the most high energy cities in the world, and one of the most high energy ten-block radiuses in the city—Broadway," Park says, adding that the change of scenery turned out to be "life changing."
Just as Emily in Paris influenced Park, she influenced the series. Her character, Mindy, was not originally written to be an aspiring pop star. But after meeting Park (and hearing that voice), Star and the writers' room couldn't turn down an opportunity to have her belt on camera. Should Emily in Paris be renewed for a second season, Park will be singing more: Mindy just scored a gig as an emcee.
Until that day comes, we can listen to Park's voice on original Broadway recordings. Here's what you need to know about her.
Ashley Park made her Broadway debut in Mamma Mia in 2014, and kept busy after that.
Less than a year after graduating from the University of Michigan's renowned musical theater program, Park landed a role in Mamma Mia on Broadway in 2014. "I was just out of school and so green," Park told Interview Magazine. "To be in a show like that, which had been running for so long and where everyone had a routine, was incredibly valuable. I got to learn what life as a working actor is." And, she's been one ever since.
After a brief stint touring with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Park returned to Broadway to star in the Tony Award-winning revival of The King and I. When choosing a role, Park has one criteria: “I don’t want to do anything that I’m not completely humbled by,” Park told Playbill Magazine.
She got a Tony nom for playing Gretchen Wieners in Broadway's Mean Girls.
Mean Girls, a 2004 movie written by Tina Fey, is a generation-defining teen movie about one girl's attempt to climb the high school social pyramid. Lacey Chabert plays Gretchen Wieners, the second-in-command of her school's popular clique in the movie. "I spend every hour making sure Regina George can stay in power," Gretchen sings in the 2018 musical adaptation.
Park has always been a huge fan of the movie—in fact, during a 2016 interview with Broadway Box, she called Mean Girls the only movie she had memorized. When approaching the part, Park knew she didn't want to do an imitation of Chabert's now-iconic character. Instead, she tried to create her own Gretchen Wieners by returning to the script, and discovering more about the character.
"What I realized is that no matter what Gretchen’s doing, no matter what secrets she’s spilling, she’s trying to be a good friend," Park told Interview Magazine. "What I love about Gretchen is she doesn’t want to be anything but the beta. She doesn’t want to be the leader. I could relate to that. I love how in this show Gretchen is not the quirky Asian girl. She’s the fragile wannabe, tender, dance party, just-wants-to-please-her-leader girl. She’s just a teenager."
For all her effort, Park received a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2018.
Park channeled her inner K-Pop star in a musical called (appropriately) KPOP.
A show by Asian creators, starring a predominantly Asian cast, KPOP was a rarity in New York's theater scene. Park was intent on being involved with the show, no matter what it took—and it wasn't easy. The Off-Broadway musical coincided with Mean Girls rehearsals.
Initially, Park dropped out of KPOP to prepare for Mean Girls, but changed her mind after a conversation with her father. “He said, ‘If there’s going to be a show about Koreans that comes to New York and you want to be a part of this story, you should just try to find any way to do it,’” Park told Billboard. “For about a month, I was rehearsing for Mean Girls during the day and then doing KPOP at night. My team and the casting and the creative teams on both worked like champions to figure out a way for me to do both.”
Park eventually won a Lucille Lortel Award for playing Mwe in KPOP.
She was meant to headline a revamped production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2020.
In an alternate reality, Park would have graced the stage at City Center, a performing arts venue in Manhattan, in the starring role of Thoroughly Modern Millie in May 2020. Park had played the character of Millie before—all the way back in her high school days. Sutton Foster, star of Emily in Paris's creator Darren Stars other show, Younger previously played the role.
However, the show was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic—just like the rest of the Broadway season. On what would have been the show's opening night, Park shared a recording of her singing the opening number. "It ain’t polished people, but it’s a sweet souvenir," she wrote on Instagram.
Her trick? Angel cards and oracle decks.
After all those Broadway shows, Park has developed an endearing routine. Before every show, Park gathers the cast and crew so they can pick a card from her angel-themed Oracle Deck. Each card bears a specific message, meant to be carried through the day.
"I love getting to chat and check in with each cast member, dresser, stage manager, and whoever else is around as they pick their "Angel" for the day out of my little bag. It brings me peace to share a moment with each person and know where they're coming from that day before we all share the common ground and space onstage. It opens me up into my show too," Park told Paper Magazine.
When she was 15, Park was diagnosed with cancer.
In addition to having a remarkable stage career, Park has overcome some serious adversity. When she was 15, Park was diagnosed with leukemia. During a YouTube interview, Park revealed that she went to rehearsal before heading to the hospital. She ended up spending the entirety of her sophom*ore year in the hospital, per an interview with the New York Times.
As part of her time with the Make a Wish Foundation, Park asked to see a Broadway show. "I thought that maybe performing was something I wanted to do. So the summer before my senior year of high school, my family and I were brought to New York and stayed in a hotel. We saw The Lion King, Spring Awakening, A Chorus Line and Wicked. I was sold. It’s not until you can tangibly be around something that you discover how accessible it is. I realized it was something that I could manifest for myself. That was a big deal," she told Showtickets.com. Today, Park is involved with the Make a Wish Foundation.
For behind-the-scenes Emily in Paris content, follow her on Instagram.
Emily in Paris's 10 episodes will fly by. For more, check out Park's Instagram page, where she memorialized her time in Paris.
And her friendships with her fellow cast members.
You can catch her in another Netflix show.
With his Tales of the City novels, Armistead Maupin created a bustling collection of characters who walked in and out of each other's Bay Area apartments, and lives. The series, set predominantly in the LGBTQ community, was first adapted into a miniseries in 1993, and revived by Netflix in 2019. Acting alongside original cast members Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis, Park plays an Instagram star in the revival.
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Elena Nicolaou
Elena Nicolaou is the former culture editor at Oprah Daily.
