Dipaly Banerjee
Multi-talented actor, dancer, and singer Ashley Jini Park has gained a massive fan following post her appearance in the hit Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ as Mindy Chen, the titular protagonist’s best friend. The talented actress also received a prestigious Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominations for originating the role of the famous ‘Mean Girls’ character Gretchen Weiners in the musical adaptation of ‘Mean Girls’. She also made her Broadway debut in 2014 in ‘Mamma Mia!’
Ashley is even a Grammy-nominated singer for her performance in ‘The King and I.’ She took home the Lucille Lortel Awards as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in ‘KPOP.’ Her compelling performances in ‘Nightcap,’ ‘Tales of the City,’ and ‘Girls5eva,’ and her stunning good looks, garnered a lot of attention too, and fans must be curious to know more about her.
Ashley Park’s Hails From a Loving Family
The 33-year-old actor was born in Glendale, California, on June 6, 1991, and spent her childhood in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is of Korean descent and was born to Andrew Park and Sara Park; and has a younger sister named Audrey, all of whom have always unwaveringly supported her dreams. At the very young age of three, Ashley attended dance classes at Oceanside Dance Academy. She attended the University of Michigan, where she earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Musical Theatre in 2013.
Since relocating to NYC in the 2010s, Park has participated in activities to benefit Broadway Cares and Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA). Additionally, she has mentored students and led master courses for a variety of initiatives and groups, including The Broadway Collective and Broadway Workshop. Park created a second Instagram account during the COVID-19 pandemic, from which she started providing daily question-and-answer sessions via Zoom for 10 minutes in exchange for donations to the Actors Fund.
Ashley Park’s Dating Rumors
Despite being a private person and keeping the majority of her dating history away from the public’s eye, Ashley Park has been rumored to be dating some handsome men from the musical industry. Ashley and Benjamin Tyler Cook from ‘West Side Story’ were said to be dating in 2019. The two didn’t officially confirm or deny anything, but they attended multiple red-carpet events over the year and weren’t afraid to get close in photos. Before developing an alleged relationship with Cook, the celebrity was briefly linked to actor and singer Zach Adkins.
Omg there’s two of them. So proud of @zachmadkins. Got to see the last hour of his final @AnastasiaBway matinee. 💛 pic.twitter.com/CdjbSP8kkV
— Ashley Park (@ashleyparklady) November 26, 2018
Following a string of events they attended together in late 2018, the duo ignited dating rumors. However, it appears that those were mere speculations as nothing significant came out of it. Back in 2016, Ashley was romantically linked to Conrad Ricamora when they appeared as two star-crossed loversTuptim and Lun Tha, respectively, in ‘The King & I’ on Broadway in 2015. The pictures of them attending events, vacationing in Montauk, and visiting Disneyland together churned the rumor mills for a while, until she rendered the rumors false.
Ashley Park is Dating Her Co-Star
Although Ashley Park largely prefers to keep the personal aspects of her life hidden from the media’s prying eyes, she recently went public with her relationship with Paul Forman. Paul is actually none other than Nicolas de Léon in ‘Emily in Paris’ – a businessman and her character Mindy’s Love Interest in season 3. Their on-screen romance spilled over into their real life as they went public through Instagram in January 2024 after seemingly more than a year of officially dating. She even made it clear that Paul was right by her side when her tonsillitis spiraled into septic shock in the first few weeks of 2024, indicating they truly are in a loving and serious relationship.
