Janel Parrish

Janel Parrish
Janel Parrish 2014.png
Parrish in 2014
Born
Janel Meilani Parrish

(1988-10-30) October 30, 1988 (age 33)
Occupation
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1996–present
Spouse(s)
Chris Long
(m. 2018)
WebsiteOfficial website

Janel Meilani Parrish Long (born October 30, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in the mystery-drama television series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) and its spinoff Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019), and as Margot Covey in the To All the Boys film series (2018–2021). She also portrayed Young Cosette in the Broadway production of Les Misérables (1996), and Jade in the teen comedy film Bratz (2007).

Early life

Parrish was born in Kāne'ohe, Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Honolulu and, in her teens, California. Her mother Joanne (née Mew) is of Han Chinese descent, and her father Mark Parrish, is of German, Irish, and English descent. She has one sister, Melissa Nohelani, who is eight years older and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Her parents are former bodybuilders, and her mother worked for a Honolulu health club.

At age six, Parrish saw a production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center and fell in love with the idea of performing. She began playing the piano, and within a year was also studying acting, singing, tap and jazz dance. She entered several talent contests, and became well known to local Oahu residents. At age 14, she appeared in the 2003 remake of Star Search, performing the song "On My Own" from Les Misérables. She attended Moanalua Elementary School, and Moanalua High School for her freshman year. Parrish lived in Kaneohe, Hawaii until the age of 14, when she and her family moved to Burbank, Los Angeles so she could pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Parrish was then homeschooled in order to accommodate her work schedule.

Career

Acting

Parrish began her acting career when she was cast as Young Cosette in the National Touring Company of Les Misérables, and later portrayed the role for two months in the Broadway production at the Imperial Theatre. She subsequently appeared in several community theatre productions in Hawaii – most notably as Jean Louise "Scout" Finch in Manoa Valley Theatre's revival of To Kill a Mockingbird in 1998. In 1999, Parrish landed her first substantial television role in NBC's action series Baywatch, appearing in two episodes as Hina, a young girl whom Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) saves from drowning.

In 2000, Parrish was featured in Disney's live-action television film based on the Pinocchio story Geppetto, portraying the role of Natalie. She then went on to appear as Vanessa in The WB's short-lived sitcom The O'Keefes. Parrish also appeared in shows and made-for-television films on the Disney Channel, and also guest starred in Fox's sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, Nickelodeon's children's comedy-drama series Zoey 101, and Fox's teen drama series The O.C.. Parrish then portrayed Bratz member Jade in the 2007 live-action film Bratz. The role was her first in a motion picture, as well as her first starring role. She also provided her voice for the Bratz 4 Real video game. In May 2007, shortly before the release of Bratz, she was signed to the William Morris Agency. She then landed a recurring role in the NBC supernatural drama series Heroes.

Parrish promoting Bratz film at MuchMusic in 2007.

Parrish played Mona Vanderwaal for the duration of the Freeform teen drama series Pretty Little Liars, based on the book series by Sara Shepard. Mona is introduced in the first season as a teenage outsider who uses her intelligence and resources to torment others anonymously. In March 2012, Parrish was promoted to a series regular for the third season, and stayed a regular for the remainder of the series. For her performance as Mona, she won Choice TV – Villain at the Teen Choice Awards four times from five nominations.

In February 2012, Parrish returned to her stage roots in a production of the musical Spring Awakening. She portrayed Anna, while also understudying the lead female role of Wendla Bergmann. That same year, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama film Celeste and Jesse Forever. She subsequently guest starred in the CBS drama series Hawaii Five-0, playing the role of Rebecca Fine, an ambitious and strong-willed chemistry student, and made a guest appearance in Lifetime's fantasy legal drama series Drop Dead Diva as cheerleader Chelsea Putnam. Also in 2014, Parrish led the cast of the Lifetime thriller film High School Possession as Lauren Brady. The following year, she had a guest role as villainess Jillian Havemeyer in NBC's comedy-drama series The Mysteries of Laura. In 2017, she guest starred in Fox's procedural drama series Rosewood, playing Selena Monet, a young popstar. In November 2017, Parrish began portraying Sandy Dumbrowski in a Toronto production of Grease, alongside Katie Findlay. She then portrayed Lisa Wagner in the romance film Until We Meet Again, alongside Jackson Rathbone.

Parrish co-starred as Margot Covey in the film adaptation of Jenny Han's young adult romance novel To All the Boys I've Loved Before, with Lana Condor and John Corbett, and appeared alongside Angela Trimbur and Fairuza Balk in the home-invasion thriller Hell Is Where the Home Is. Parrish will co-star with Mickey Rourke in the upcoming boxing drama Tiger. She reprised her role as Mona Vanderwaal in the Pretty Little Liars spin-off drama series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. The show premiered on Freeform on March 20, 2019 and concluded on May 22, 2019.

Music

At age eight, Parrish won a statewide singing competition in Hawaii. She began writing her own music as a teenager and eventually became the lead singer of the three-piece girl group, Impulse. In 2007, Parrish was signed to Geffen Records as a solo artist to produce her first album. Her first single, "Rainy Day", which she wrote herself, and its music video, was released on July 7, 2007. The song also featured on the Bratz soundtrack. Parrish made appearances in Prima J's music video for "Rockstar" and NLT's music video for "She Said, I Said", which were both featured on the Bratz soundtrack. She also provided background vocals for the latter. In April 2015, she released two songs, "Heart Made of Stone" and "Senseless", both of which she co-wrote with Vince Pizzinga.

Other ventures

In August 2014, Parrish was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. During week three, "Movie Night", the couple became the first to earn a perfect score with their Jazz dance, and held the record for earliest perfect score on the show (the record was later matched by Bethany Mota and her partner Derek Hough on the same night). Parrish and Chmerkovskiy reached the final but ended up in third place, behind Alfonso Ribeiro and Sadie Robertson, who took first and second place respectively.

She modeled Camille La Vie & Group USA's prom dresses for Seventeen magazine and served as a special guest judge at the annual Camille La Vie & Group USA and Seventeen's "Celebrity Prom" event in March 2014. She has graced the covers of numerous fashion magazines, including Nationalist, Pulse Spikes, Luca, Vulkan and Modeliste.

Parrish is popular on social media and endorses products such as beauty and wellness products on Instagram. She has partnered with several brands, including Room & Board Modern Furniture products, Robitussin cold relief, Beauty Rest Black mattress and Glade candles.

Parrish in 2013.

Philanthropy

In October 2018, she appeared in an anti-bullying public service announcement for Disney and ABC’s #ChooseKindness campaign with Sasha Pieterse for National Bullying Prevention Month. "I have had experiences being bullied. For me, it was definitely high school. I was not the popular girl at all," she told People magazine.

Personal life

Parrish began dating chemical engineer Chris Long in September 2016, and became engaged to him on October 23, 2017. They married on September 8, 2018 at Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, Hawaii. Her father-in-law was killed by a drunk driver two weeks before the wedding. "We went to Hawaii and we had the most beautiful day, and during our vows, when Chris started talking about his dad, the sky opened up and it just started pouring rain on us. It was such a beautiful, I mean I don't think anybody was dry eyed, like everybody cried because it was such a beautiful moment," Parrish recalled to ET in 2019.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Bratz Jade
2009 Fired Up! Lana
2009 April Showers Vicki
2010 Triple Dog Cecily Gerber
2011 One Kine Day Leilani
2011 4 Wedding Planners Hoku Wolf
2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Savannah
2018 I'll Be Watching Kate Riley
2018 To All the Boys I've Loved Before Margot Covey
2018 Hell Is Where the Home Is Estelle
2018 Tiger Charlotte
2020 To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Margot Covey
2020 Mighty Oak Gina Jackson
2021 To All the Boys: Always and Forever Margot Covey
2021 Christmas Is Cancelled Brandy Barnes
2022 Until We Meet Again Lisa Wagner
2022 Run & Gun Faith

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Baywatch Hina 2 episodes
2000 Geppetto Natalie Television film
2003 Star Search Herself (Junior Singer) Episode: "The One with Guest Judge Jack Osbourne"
2004 The Bernie Mac Show Laura Episode: "Being Bernie Mac"
2006 Zoey 101 Sara Episode: "The Silver Hammer Society"
2006 The O.C. Leah Episode: "The Summer Bummer"
2007–2008 Heroes May 4 episodes
2009 True Jackson, VP Kyla Episode: "Flirting with Fame"
2010–2017 Pretty Little Liars Mona Vanderwaal Recurring role (seasons 12); main role (seasons 37)
2013 Hawaii Five-0 Rebecca Fine Episode: "Kapu"
2014 Drop Dead Diva Chelsea Putnam Episode: "Cheers & Jeers"
2014 Dancing with the Stars Herself Contestant (season 19)
2014 High School Possession Lauren Brady Television film
2015 The Mysteries of Laura Jillian Havemeyer Episode: "The Mystery of the Crooked Clubber"
2016 Rush Hour Nina Taylor Episode: "Wind Beneath My Wingman"
2017 Rosewood Selena Monet Episode: "Mummies & Meltdowns"
2018 I'll Be Watching Kate Riley Television film
2019 Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Mona Vanderwaal Main role
2020–2021 Magnum P.I. Maleah Episodes: "Say Hello to Your Past", "Tell No One"
2020 Holly & Ivy Melody Television film
2021 Right in Front of Me Carly Television film
2021 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! Herself (host) Television special
2021 Coyote Creek Christmas Paige Parker Television film

Music videos

Year Title Artist Role Ref.
2007 "Rockstar" Prima J Bratz member Jade
2007 "Rainy Day" Janel Parrish
2007 "She Said, I Said (Time We Let Go)" NLT Ex Girlfriend
2015 "Come On Get Happy" The Coca-Cola Artists Herself
2015 "Lay Me Down" Brian Justin Crum & Janel Parrish
2015 "When It's Over" Janel Parrish

Stage

Year Title Role Location(s) Ref
1996 Les Misérables Young Cosette National tour and Imperial Theatre
1998 To Kill a Mockingbird Scout Finch Manoa Valley Theatre
1999 Here's Love Susan Walker Diamond Head Theatre
2000 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Beth Bradley Diamond Head Theatre
2001 On Dragonfly Wings Wendy Waterbug Leeward Community College Theater
2012 Spring Awakening Anna Theatre of Arts Arena Stage
2015 Cruel Intentions: The Musical Kathryn Merteuil Rockwell Table & Stage
2017 A Walk to Remember: The Musical Jamie Sullivan Prospect Theatre
Cruel Intentions: The Musical Cecile Caldwell (Le) Poisson Rouge
2017–2018 Grease Sandy Dumbrowski Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres

Discography

Singles

Title Year Album
"Rainy Day" 2007 Bratz
"When It's Over" 2015 Non-album singles
"Only Hope" 2017
"Everything" 2019

Promotional singles

Title Year Album
"Lay Me Down"
(with Brian Justin Crum)
2015 Non-album singles
"Heart Made of Stone"
"Senseless"
"Life Is Beautiful"

Soundtrack

Year Movie Song Notes
2007 Bratz "Rainy Day" Writer and performer
"Open Eyes" Performer
"Bratitude"
2008 Guiding Light "Won't Let You Go" Writer and performer
Adventures in Appletown "I'm Changing" Performer
2009 April Showers "I Won't Cry" Writer and performer
2010 Triple Dog "Rush" Performer
2014 Pretty Little Liars "Gravity"
2017 Rosewood "Dance for Me"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2012 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars Won
2013 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars Won
2013 TV Guide Awards Favorite Villain (with Keegan Allen) Pretty Little Liars Nominated
2014 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars Nominated
2016 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars Won
2017 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars Won

This page was last updated at 2022-05-17 16:36 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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