‘Emily in Paris’ star Ashley Park reveals her cancer battle inspired her to pursue acting

Ashley Park shared her life story as she opened up on her challenges during the teenage days when she battled cancer.

Park, who rose to fame for playing Mindy Chen on Netflix’s popular series Emily in Paris, recently revealed that she was just 15 when she got diagnosed with cancer.

The actress opened up to Shape magazine about her motivation and mentioned that she never wanted cancer to define her.

Park was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when she was 15. She recovered after spending nearly a year in the hospital undergoing rigorous chemotherapy and radiations.

“Once cancer physically left my body, I made it my mission to not let it affect my life,” said Park, adding that, “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 also noted that maintaining physically fitness and treating the body right is a key to being an actress. “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.”

Park’s interview with Shape comes shortly before the debut of the new season of Emily in Paris.

The actress recently graced the red carpet in a golden gown at the premiere in Paris, France, and she spoke with ET’s Deidre Behar about the upcoming season.

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