Ashley Park's Mindy has a few musical tricks up her sleeve in Emily in Paris Season 4, Part 2.
Mindy is Emily's best friend and a talented singer who left her rich family in China to escape her father's high expectations. In Paris, she juggles between working as an au pair (a nanny) and a musician who does busking alongside her two bandmates, Benoit (Kevin Dias) and Etienne (Jin Xuan Mao).
Season 4 sees Mindy and her band gear up for Eurovision, but the downside is they do not have the funds to push through with it. As a result, the free-spirited Mindy decides to take matters into her own hands by working side gigs.
Ashley Park's Singing in Emily in Paris Explained
Ashley Park sings in Emily in Paris and has been doing it since Season 1.
Some of Park's musical covers in the series include Édith Piaf’s "La Vie en Rose," an original song, "Mon Soleil," BTS' "Dynamite," Frank Sinatra's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and most recently, an original song in Season 4, Episode 10 titled "Beautiful Ruins."
Park has a musical background on Broadway and debuted in Mamma Mia! in 2014. Some of her notable Broadway credits include Sunday in the Park with George, Mean Girls, and Grand Horizons.
In Mean Girls, she originated the role of Gretchen and was nominated for a Tony Award.
Interestingly, she was a guest star in the musical-infused Season 3 of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, where she played Kimber, a cast member of Oliver's (Martin Short) Broadway play, Death, Razzle, Dazzle.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Park admitted that she is still trying to figure out what her "actual, true voice was" despite having performed in many musicals, may it be Broadway or on-screen:
"I’ve sung my whole life and performed in so many musicals, but I was always trying to figure out what my actual, true voice was."
Wait, Is Ashley Park's Singing Lip-Syncing or Auto-Tuned?
Despite using her actual singing voice, some have assumed that Ashley Park is lip-syncing to the songs in the series since most productions have actors lip-syncing to the music rather than singing it live.
It remains to be seen if auto-tune is used, but some fans have openly criticized the songs for sounding like it does use it. However, it is important to note that it has not been confirmed whether autotune was used for her songs in the series.
While some have also pointed out that there is too much singing for Mindy in Season 4, Park revealed in an October 2020 interview with Vulture that she and Emily in Paris showrunner Darren Star used singing as a tool for "story-driven" ideas and not just for pure musical moments:
"['Emily in Paris' showrunner Darren Star and I] talked about how we would want it to be story-driven and not just singing for the singing."
This is quite evident in Season 4 since her "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Benoit in Episode 6 presented a story of undeniable chemistry between the two ex-lovers that would make anyone think they still have feelings for each other.
In Episode 10, her original song, "Beautiful Ruins," allowed her to spread her wings and free-spirited persona like never before; it was an opportunity to announce to the world that she would stop at nothing to achieve her dream.
The video of her singing "Beautiful Ruins" in Rome elevated her character to greater heights. After it went viral, Chinese Popstar (the show that rejected her in Episode 1) called her again to become their new judge.
It is a full-circle moment for Mindy, and her singing (auto-tuned or not) greatly impacts the character's narrative.
All episodes of Emily in Paris Season 4 are streaming on Netflix.
