Ashley Park on Great Love, the Future of Emily in Paris, and Overcoming Trauma

glamour.com:

. As Mindy Chen, Park provides both lightness and depth in a series that oscillates between kitsch and charm. Her singing, her comic timing, and her undisguised vulnerability are a key part of the Netflix series' success.But Ashley Park is far more than the entertaining bestie of the title character: since her Grammy nomination for the Broadway show "The King and I" (2016) and her Tony Award nomination for the Broadway version of (2018), she has made the leap to in-demand star, having booked a wide array of projects recently, including roles in Girls5eva, , and Only Murders in the Building.The themes of self-reflection and openness run like a thread through our interview, which we conducted in New York as part of our cover shoot.

Her strength, says Park, comes from the many challenges in her life: As a teenager, she overcame a bout with leukemia; as a young actress, she battled her way through nerve-wracking auditions, where she often faced rejection by pointing out her Asian heritage.And as recently as January, she was hospitalized for a month following a septic shock— the doctors saw little chance of recovery.

But Park fought her way back to life, thanks in part to the help of her boyfriend, co-star Paul Forman, and soon after filmed the fourth season of the Netflix series alongside and shared her experiences with the public to raise awareness about sepsis and trauma.Glamour: Congratulations on the fourth season!

Is Mindy moving to Rome now?Ashley Park: I hope so! Mindy definitely gets that typical "girly girl" moment where she says, "I'm coming."How much has your life changed since "Emily in Paris"?Completely!