Ashley Park is an actress, dancer, and singer. She is a Grammy and Tony-Award nominated theater artist who is popular for the role of Gretchen Wieners in the musical theater 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 Ashley Jini Park [1]IMDb on Thursday, June 6, 1991 (aged 31; as of 2022) in Glendale, California. She grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she participated in community children’s theater. She attended Pioneer High School in 2009, and then attended the University of Michigan, earning a BFA in musical theatre from the School of Music, Theater, and Dance in 2013. [2]MLive
A childhood picture of Ashley Park
Ashley Park in her early teens
Subsequently, in 2014, she moved to New York where she made her Broadway debut with the musical “Mamma Mia!.”
Physical Appearance
Height: 5′ 5″
Weight: 56 kg
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye color: Black
Family & Ethnicity
Ashley Park is of Asian and American descent. [3]Ashley Park – Instagram
Parents & Siblings
Ashley Park’s father’s name is Andrew Park and her mother’s name is Sara Park.
A photo collage of Ashley’s parents
Ashley Park with her mother
Ashley Park has a younger sister who is called Audrey Park.
Ashley Park making an Instagram video with her sister
Relationship, Wife & Children
Not much is known about her relationship.
Other Relatives
She is the first cousin of actor Justin H. Min.
Justin H. Min and Ashley Park
Career
As a theater artist
Ashley began her acting career in Michigan. In 2009, she was cast as an ensemble member in the musical “Miss Saigon.” Subsequently, she acted in various plays, such as Jekyll & Hyde (2010), Jesus Christ Superstar (2010), Love Changes Everything (2011), etc. Equity Association of the United States. In 2014, she moved to New York where she made her Broadway debut with the musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ in which she is chosen as a member of the ensemble. Later that year, she landed her first major role as the sweet and speedy sister-in-law “Gabrielle” in the play “Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein”. In 2015, she made her name with the play ‘The King and I’ which Tuptim starred in.’
Ashley Park in the play King and I (2015)
In 2017, she played another important role of Gretchen Wieners in the play “Mean Girls.” She was immensely appreciated for portraying the role of Gretchen Wieners, which earned her a Tony nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical.
Ashley Park as Gretchen Wieners in the play Mean Girls (2017)
In September 2017, she starred as ‘Mwe,’ a Korean pop star in the Drama Desk-winning play “KPOP.” Later, she appeared in various 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 television documentary series ‘My Dirty Little Secret’ in which she played the role of Ann Racz.
Ashley Park in My Dirty Little Secret (2014)
Subsequently, she appeared in the television series Nightcap (2017) in which she played the role of Olivia Cho.
Web series
Ashley Park made her digital debut with Netflix’s Tales of the City (2019) in which she starred as Jennifer Ani Winter.
Ashley as Jennifer Ani Winter in Netflix’s Tales of the City
In 2020, she plays one of the protagonists ‘Mindy Chen’ of the Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ in which she shares the screen with Lily Collins, Lucas Bravo, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Samuel Arnold, and Camille Razat.
Ashley Park as Mindy in Emily in Paris (2020)
Movie
In 2014, Ashley made her film debut with the film Are You Joking? in which she played a brief cameo role of a date at a party.
Award/Honor
- Willis Patterson Diversity Award (2013)
- Won Lucille Lortel Awards (2016) for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for KPOP Theater
- Clarence Derwent Award (2018)
- Marin Mazzie Award for Empowering the Cancer Support Community (2019)
Ashley getting the Marine Mazzi Award
Facts/Trivia
- Since childhood, Park was passionate about the performing arts. At the age of three, she enrolled at the Oceanside Dance Academy, and at five, she took piano lessons. Later, in middle school, she discovered musical theatre, a platform where she could perform a combination of her dance and music skills. [4]Broadway
- At the age of fifteen, Ashley Park was diagnosed with leukemia, a blood cancer caused by an increased number of white blood cells in the body. Being diagnosed with such a chronicle, made her ambitious to act. [5]Playbill
- She was an active member of the acclaimed University of Michigan Musical Theater Program. Park was also a co-founder of the Michigan Performance Outreach Workshop (MPOW), an organization that encouraged educational opportunities in the performing arts among Detroit’s urban youth whose arts programs had been cut due to budget cuts. [6]Michigan Muse
- While most actors quit their second job as soon as they made their acting debut, Park continued to work for Juice Press at 6 a.m. while starring on the Broadway show “Mamma Mia!”
- She appeared in the Jimmy Kimmel show on January 21, 2022.
Ashley Park in Jimmy Kimmel
- She supported the Asians for Black Lives Matter campaign on June 7 2020 in Washington Square Park. This is one of the many causes that she has supported in the past.
Ashley Park’s post on Instagram about the Black Lives Matter movement
- She admits to loving photobombing people during award functions!
Ashley posted about her photobombing sessions on Instagram
- She can do a full leg split!
Ashley doing a full split
- Her first Instagram post was on February 18, 2014, when she posted a selfie on the sets of Mamma Mia with the hashtag “debut.”
The very first post by Ashley on Instagram
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, the actress set up a second Instagram account which she used to offer ten-minute one-on-one lessons and daily question-and-answer sessions via Zoom. She did this in exchange for donations to the Actors Fund. [7]Broadway World
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Ashley Park was super excited and wrote about it on her social media handles as BTS member RM praised her performance of ‘Dynamite’ in the show Emily in Paris. The show even got the rights to BTS’ “Dynamite.” [8]Vogue The group even reposted her cover of the song on their social media.
- She took French when she was in middle and high school. She says that although she knows how to conjugate the verbs, she can not make a decent sentence. Working in France, she thought that it might come back to her but it didn’t work very well for her. However, she aims to be better at it. [9]Vogue