I met Ali Wong at a party shortly after I graduated from UCLA. She was still a student there and had just joined the on-campus Asian American theater company that I had co-founded back when I was an undergraduate. We’ve been friends ever since.
The thing I admire most about Ali is her strong sense of self. She knows what she wants and doesn’t want, and she advocates for herself in a way that I find incredibly inspiring. She loves stand-up—that’s the most important thing to her, creatively. She’s all about her family, her friends, and her art. She doesn’t get distracted by fame or money. And when she commits to something, she gives it everything, every time.
Ali values honesty, in her work and her life. She’s unafraid of digging deep, asking the hard questions to others and herself. I think that’s why she’s one of our greatest comedians and more importantly, to me at least, a great friend. And of course, she always makes me laugh.
Park is an actor, writer, and director
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