Actor Randall Park’s recent, heartfelt interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show reminded us what it really means to be connected. He opted out of an impromptu battle rap faceoff with Hudson. Park is a former member of a Korean hip-hop collective and still considers himself a huge fan of rap and hip-hop. He recently joined us to discuss his career path and his new creative endeavor. The actor is now leading the ensemble cast for Shonda Rhimes’ new mystery comedy, The Residence, which just launched this month on Netflix.
Park vividly recalled his experiences as a relative newcomer to Hollywood. In doing so, he remembered one of his earliest auditions, for Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘N Out, the improvisational comedy-pop culture series that launched on MTV back in 2005. He painted a picture of the audition process as grueling. Producers rejected him over and over again before he was finally cast.
"It was a process. They must've called me back like five or six times." – Randall Park
While on the set of The Jennifer Hudson Show, Park reminisced about his favorite moments from Wild ‘N Out. He pointed to the humor and freshness borne of the show’s mostly improvisational format.
"We had to play improv games. We had to, like, battle rap each other. And, like, essentially insult each other." – Randall Park
Looking back on those experiences, Park was struck by the necessity of grit to play these roles.
"So you had to be able to take it." – Randall Park
In his inspiring discussion with Hudson, Park explained how his multifaceted career took shape. He is well-known for his role as Marcus in the 2019 rom-com Always Be My Maybe, where he raps about punching Keanu Reeves. The hit song from the movie was conceived as an impromptu song after a Netflix exec pitched the idea to Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Park has an obviously stellar pedigree beyond Wild ‘N Out and Always Be My Maybe. He’s one of the stars of the hit series Fresh Off the Boat and Veep, along the way picking up roles in both Marvel and DC films. His latest endeavor, The Residence, is just one more string to the creative polymath’s bow.
The Jennifer Hudson Show’s cast includes Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito, Susan Kelechi Watson, Ken Marino, Jason Lee, and Bronson Pinchot. The new policy resulted in a highly diverse cast and a vastly more exciting environment going into the show’s production. Yet, Park decided to avoid another battle rap duel with his newest cameo.
