Park attended UCLA in the fall quarter of 1993.[8] As a student, he co-founded "Lapu, the Coyote that Cares," the largest and longest-running on-campus Asian American theater company, now known as the LCC Theatre Company, in 1995.[9][10][11][12] He credits his experiences with LCC for sparking his desire to pursue acting professionally and would go on to collaborate with many of its alumni.[13] Their first performance was of Treehouse Bachelor Society, a full-length play Park had written, and it was performed at the Northwest Auditorium.[13] Park was a student volunteer for UCLA's official charity, UCLA UniCamp, and went by the camp name "CareMoose."[4]
He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English, with a concentration in creative writing,[14] and minor in Asian American studies from UCLA in 1997.[8][15] He remained at UCLA, partly to continue acting with LCC, and later completed his master's degree in Asian American studies in 1999.[16][17][7] After graduation, Park worked at the weekly newspaper New Times LA as a graphic/print designer for a few years. When he left the job, he considered pursuing architecture school but failed the pre-requisite courses and realized he did not want to attend any more schooling.[7]
Career
2001–2006: early years
Park co-founded the Propergander theater group with a few LCC alumni. Their first production was of The Achievers by LCC co-founder Michael Golamco in 2001.[11] Around this time, Park began doing stand-up comedy recreationally in his backyard during Propergander shows. He cited Mike Birbiglia and Mitch Hedberg as early influences and would later perform alongside comedian Ali Wong.[18][4][19] Other notable alumni include Vivian Bang, Tim Chiou, and Eddie Shin.[20] Park, Shin, Wong, and LCC co-founder Naoya Imanishi were also a part of the short lived improv group, "The Legendary Stage Ninjaz".[11][4]
Early in his career, when Park did not have a talent agent, he would book roles through diversity showcases at different television networks.[25] In 2006, he appeared in the CBS Diversity Showcase. At 32, while a cast member on MTV's Wild 'n Out, he worked at Starbucks to supplement his income.[4][26]
In 2007, he regularly appeared as an actor in the filmmaking reality show On the Lot.
2007–2013: online work
Park found work to be scarce in 2009 due to the Great Recession in the United States in 2008 and a potential SAG-AFTRA strike at the beginning of 2009,[27] so he began to focus on his own projects during this period.[18] He wrote the short film Blueberry, which won an award for Best Actor at the NBC Shortcuts Film Festival For Short Films in 2010.[28][29]
Park had a recurring role as Martin Fukanaga on Supah Ninjas.
Park has collaborated on several projects with Wong Fu Productions. Previously, he has appeared as Brandon in the comedy skit Too Fast (2010) and as the stepfather in the web seriesHome Is Where the Hans Are (2012). More recently, Park played a D.E.I. agent in the feature film Everything Before Us (2015) and its accompanying short film, Asian Santa in the comedy skit Why is Santa Asian?, and a brief cameo as himself in Asian Bachelorette 2.[30][31]
He created, directed, wrote, and starred in several short internet series for Channel 101, including Dr. Miracles, The Food, IKEA Heights and Dumb Professor. In 2013, he wrote and starred in a series for Channel 101 featuring his baby daughter entitled Baby Mentalist.[32] In Channel 101's bracket competition format for web-series, Baby Mentalist was voted number one the most times of any show at the time, ending with six episodes in 2013.[33][34]
2014–present: mainstream success
Park at The #FreshOffTheBoat Viewing Party at The Circle NYC on February 4, 2015
Park played the recurring character of Minnesota governor Danny Chung on the HBO comedy Veep.[4][1]
In 2014, Park played a company rep trying to recruit college students in Neighbors. He had previously worked with the director, Nicholas Stoller, on The Five-Year Engagement (2012). Stoller later recommended Park for the role of "a vague North Korean dictator," who later turned out to be North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in the controversial[35] film, The Interview, directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. Impressed by his audition, Goldberg and Rogen offered Park the role after one audition. Park gained over 20 pounds for the role. For reference material on the role, he used Forest Whitaker's performance in The Last King of Scotland and the Vice documentary on North Korea.[36]
That year, Park starred in the comedy film, Sex Tape.[37]
From 2015 to 2020, Park starred as Louis Huang, patriarch of a Taiwanese American family, alongside Constance Wu, in ABC's television show Fresh Off the Boat (based on Eddie Huang's memoir, Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir), written and produced by Nahnatchka Khan and executive produced by Jake Kasdan.[35] He was the first actor cast on the show, with the producers having approached him before the pilot was ordered.[33] Park initially felt uneasy about portraying a Taiwanese father as somebody of Korean heritage. However, Huang reassured Park that he was Huang's first choice to play his father.[38] When they were staffing the writer's room, Park recommended Ali Wong for the position.[39] The show ran for six seasons and was concluded on February 21, 2020.
In 2017, Park appeared in the comedies The House as the Wall Street Guy and The Disaster Artist. He also lent his voice talents to the CGI animated film The Lego Ninjago Movie as Chen the Cheerleader.
Park produced and starred in the Netflix original filmAlways Be My Maybe, directed by Fresh of the Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan, with Ali Wong. The film was written by Park, Wong, and Michael Golamco.[40] The in-film hip hop band, Hello Peril, is inspired by Park's 90s hip hop band, Ill Again.[41] The film was released in select theaters on May 29, 2019, and digitally on May 31, 2019, on Netflix.[42]
Park, Golamco and Hieu Ho launched the Asian American focused production company, Imminent Collision, and signed a first look deal with 20th Century Fox Television in October 2019. The name is derived from a play they worked on while members of the LCC theater group at UCLA.[43]
In 2021, Park was announced as starring in the upcoming Netflix comedy series Blockbuster.[44]
Park was a front man for the Los Angeles-based hip-hop/jazz/rock fusion band, Ill Again.[41][47] The band served as the inspiration for his character's band, Hello Peril, in the film Always Be My Maybe (2019).[12] He later formed the rap group Novelists with former Ill Again emcee Andrew Johnson. In this group, Park went by the rap name, "Randruff."[48][49][50][51] They released the album Bookends in 2008.[52]
In 2019, Park rapped alongside Wayne Brady, Rafael Casal, Utkarsh Ambudkar & Daveed Diggs in "Housewarming Cypher".
In 2022, Park was featured in rapper Lyrics Born's song "This Song's Delicious" alongside Dan the Automator. In the music video, Park went by the name "Sitcom Dad."[53]
Park has been featured in ads for HBO Go, Ally Financial, and the 2011 Father's Day Verizon Droid commercial.[54][55] He plays a "doggie daycare owner" in a print and online campaign for Chase Bank, which aired in early 2015.[56]
Park was featured in UTC Business Ethics Course HUR750 "Respect in the Workplace".[citation needed]
Park returned to UCLA as a keynote speaker for the Asian American Studies department commencement ceremony in 2015 and for English department commencement ceremony in 2017.[58][59]
Park and Jae Suh's daughter, Ruby Louise Park, was born in 2012. Ruby Louise starred, alongside her parents, as a crime-fighting baby superhero in Baby Mentalist, a comedy web series developed by her father in 2013.[60][61] Ruby Louise is autistic, as discussed by Park on Mike Birbiglia's podcastWorking it Out.[62] Park supports the non-profit KultureCity that focuses on "sensory accessibility and acceptance for those with invisible disabilities." Park is on KultureCity's board of Directors.[63]
Park is an active supporter of East West Players theater group in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. He has publicly voiced his support of the theatre during EWP's donation campaign in 2018.[64]
Park has an older brother.[4] In the beginning, Park's parents were not supportive of his acting ambitions. However, in hindsight, Park has acknowledged that they have supported him tacitly by continuing to house him throughout the years.[19] When Park received the script for The Interview, his parents encouraged him to pursue the role.[38]
Park delivered the keynote address at all three UCLA college commencement ceremonies in 2023.[65]
^ abcdef"Randall Park (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 12, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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