‘Emily in Paris’ Star Ashley Park Recalls Teenage Battle With Cancer

Ashley Park is sharing her story of challenge and triumph that motivated her to chase her dreams.

The Emily in Paris star recently opened up to Shape magazine for their Motivation Issue, and explained how her battle with cancer as a teenager fueled her drive to become an actress.

“Once cancer physically left my body, I made it my mission to not let it affect my life,” said Park, who stars as Mindy Chen in the Netflix romantic comedy. “I didn’t want it to define me.”

“People were so worried about me,” she added, “and I became the person that was like, ‘I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I am going to go after what I want and just do it.'”

Park was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia — a cancer of the blood and bone marrow — when she was 15, and had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation to battle her illness.

For Park, keeping physically fit and treating her body right is a key to being an actress, and to sustaining her when she performs on screen and during her time on Broadway.

“When you’re performing so much, you realize that your body is your vessel — it’s your instrument,” Park said. “So, you have to treat it as such and really take care of it.”

Which is why she primarily maintains a plant-based diet focused on balanced nutrition. However, her teenage cancer battle had some permanent consequences that require her to occasionally stray from the vegetarian path.

“I am highly anemic because of what I went through with my cancer,” Park explained. “So, I do like a nice steak every once in a while.”

Emily in Paris season 3 premieres Dec. 21 on Netflix.

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