Ashley Park is an American actor, singer, and dancer. She is a Grammy and Tony-nominated theatre artist who is popular for playing the role of Gretchen Wieners in the musical theatre play ‘Mean Girls.’ In 2020, she played one of the protagonists ‘Mindy Chen’ in the Netflix series Emily in Paris.
Wiki/Biography
Ashley Park was born as Ashley Jini Park [1] on Thursday, June 6, 1991 (age 29 years; as of 2020), in Glendale, California. She grew up in Ann Arbor in Michigan where she used to participate in the community kids’ theatre. She studied in a local public high school, and in 2013, she graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan. [2] Thereafter, in 2014, she moved to New York City where she made her Broadway debut with the musical play ‘Mamma Mia!.’
Childhood picture of Ashley Park with her mother
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Black
Family & Ethnicity
Ashley Park has an Asian-American descent. [3]
Parents & Siblings
Ashley Park’s father’s name is Andrew Park, and her mother’s name is Sara Park. Ashley Park’s younger sister’s name is Audrey Park.
Ashley Park with her mother
Relationships, Husband & Children
Nothing much is known about her relationships.
Career
As a Theatre Artist
Ashley began her acting career as a theatre artist in Michigan. In 2009, she was casted as an ensemble member in the musical theatre play ‘Miss Saigon.’ Thereafter, she performed in various theatre plays, like Jekyll & Hyde (2010), Jesus Christ Superstar (2010), Love Changes Everything (2011), etc, which led her to earn an Equity card, a proof of membership in the Actors’ Equity Association of the United States. In 2014, she moved to New York City where she made her Broadway debut with the musical play ‘Mamma Mia!’ in which she was casted as an ensemble member. Thereafter, in the same year, she landed her first major role of sweet and quirky stepsister ‘Gabrielle’ in the theatre play ‘Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.’ In 2015, she came into the limelight with the theatre play ‘The King and I’ in which she played the role of Tuptim.
Ashley Park in the theatre play ‘King And I’ (2015)
In 2017, she played another prominent role of Gretchen Wieners in the theatre play ‘Mean Girls.’ She was immensely appreciated for portraying the role of Gretchen Wieners which earned her a Tony nomination in the category of Featured Actress in A Musical.
In September 2017, she played the role of ‘Mwe,’ a Korean pop star in the Drama Desk Award-winning theatre play ‘KPOP.’ Later, she appeared in various theatre plays, like Lady in the Dark (2019), Grand Horizons (2019), Thoroughly Modern Millie (2020), etc.
Television
In 2014, she made her television debut with the TV documentary series ‘My Dirty Little Secret’ in which she played the role of Ann Racz.
Ashley Park in My Dirty Little Secret (2014)
Thereafter, she appeared in the television series Nightcap (2017) in which she played the role of Olivia Cho.
OTT/ Web series
Ashley Park made her digital debut with Netflix’s Tales of the City in which she played the role of Jennifer Ani Winter.
In 2020, she played one of the protagonists ‘Mindy Chen’ in the Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ in which she shared the screen with Lily Collins, Lucas Bravo, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Samuel Arnold, and Camille Razat.
Films
In 2014, Ashley made her film debut with the movie ‘Are You Joking?’ in which she played a brief cameo role of a Date at a party.
Awards/Honours
- Willis Patterson Diversity Award (2013)
- Nominated for Drama Desk Awards (2016) in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Musical for the theatre play KPOP
- Won Lucille Lortel Awards (2016) in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for the theatre play KPOP
- Nominated for Drama League Awards (2016) in the category of Distinguished Performance
- Nominated for the Tony Award (2018) in the category of Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the theatre play ‘Mean Girls’
- Nominated for Drama League Awards (2018) in the category of Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for the theatre play ‘Mean Girls’
- Nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Awards (2018) in the category of Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
- Nominated for the Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography (2018) in the category of Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show
- Clarence Derwent Award (2018)
- Cancer Support Community’s Marin Mazzie Award for Empowerment (2019)
Facts/Trivia
- Since childhood, Park was passionate about performing arts. At the age of three, she got enrolled in the Oceanside Dance Academy, and at the age of five, she took piano lessons. Later, in her middle school days, she discovered musical theatre, a platform where she could perform a combination of her dance and musical skills.
- At the age of fifteen, Ashley Park was diagnosed with leukemia, a blood cancer caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells in one’s body. Being diagnosed with such a chronic disease, it made her ambitious for acting. In an interview, she said,
After that experience, I didn’t want to be identified as just the sick girl, so junior year of high school, two months after I was released from the hospital, I was rehearsing to play Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie. I found a lot of joy in doing it.”
- She was an active member of the acclaimed musical theater program at the University of Michigan. Park was also the co-founder of the Michigan Performance Outreach Workshop (MPOW), an organization that encouraged performing arts educational opportunities among the urban youth of Detroit whose arts programs had been eliminated due to budget cuts.
- While most of the actors quit their supplement income jobs as soon as they make an acting debut, Park simultaneously kept working at the Juice Press, in 6 a.m. shifts, while she was acting in the Broadway show ‘Mamma Mia!.’
