Biography
Ashley Park was an American stage and television actress who was best known for her roles on "Tales of the City" (Netflix, 2019) and "Emily in Paris" (Paramount Network, 2020). Born in Glendale, California and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Park's love of performing began when she was a very young girl. Her parents enrolled her in dance lessons when she was 3 years-old, and before long a genuine love for performance had blossomed. Park eventually gravitated towards theater, and by the time she was in middle school she was appearing in various children's musical productions throughout her hometown of Ann Arbor. With her fledgling stage career on the rise, Park received some catastrophic news when she was 15. She was diagnosed with a form of leukemia and immediately had to undergo chemotherapy. Park was hospitalized for nearly a year, but stayed strong throughout the difficult process and eventually beat the disease. Upon returning to high school, post-chemotherapy, a stronger-than-ever Park picked up right where she left of, and quickly nabbed a part in her high school's production of the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Upon graduation from high school, Park enrolled in the musical theater program at the University of Michigan. Throughout her four years in college, Park would spend her summers performing in musicals for theaters in Wichita, Kansas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When she graduated with her BFA in musical theater in 2013, Park made her Broadway debut in February of 2014 as an ensemble member of the musical "Mamma Mia!" and followed that up by playing Gabrielle on the U.S. national tour of "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella." Then in April of 2015 Park nabbed her very first leading role on Broadway as Tuptim in the revival of "The King and I." The role earned Park, and various other members of the cast who appeared on the show's album, a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. After "The King and I" closed in June of 2016, Park continued building her Broadway credentials with a part in "Sunday in the Park with George," which also starred Jake Gyllenhaal, and a starring role in the Broadway musical "Mean Girls" in 2018. That show, which was written by Tina Fey, who also wrote the 2004 screenplay for which the musical was based, earned Park her first Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In addition to appearing on Broadway, by the late 2010s Park began adding TV roles to her acting repertoire. In addition to nabbing a recurring role on "Nightcap" (Pop, 2016-17), Park joined the cast of the Netflix mini-series "Tales of the City," as well as the comedy-drama series "Emily in Paris." "Emily in Paris" premiered on the Paramount Network in 2020, and was created by Darren Star, who created "Beverly Hills, 90210" (Fox, 1990-2000) and HBO's "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1998-2004).
