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ANN ARBOR, MI – There are a lot of ways to identify Ashley Park — Ann Arbor native, University of Michigan graduate and Broadway, television and movie star.

Now the 33-year-old can claim a spot on the Time100.

The publication’s 2024 version of its Time100 Next list identifies emerging leaders from around the world who are shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership.

Park, a Tony-nominated actress and star in television shows like “Emily in Paris” and “Only Murders in the Building,” received a writeup in the publication from Emmy and Golden Globe winner Tina Fey.

Fey, who wrote the movie “Mean Girls” and cast Park in its musical adaptation in 2018, said Park “vibrates with energy and warmth like a downed power line on a beautiful summer night.”

“I first met Ashley when she auditioned for the role of Gretchen Wieners in ‘Mean Girls’ on Broadway,” Fey wrote. “She got the part immediately and went on to be nominated for a Tony. Her singing, comic timing, and heart-­wrenching vulnerability were everything we needed.”

“But on her way out of the room,” Fey continued, “she also stopped to make sure our director Casey Nicholaw knew that she could dance, and that he could give her as much ­challenging ­choreography as he wanted. So Ashley spent the next two years jumping around in impossibly high heels. She’s basically been jumping around the world in impossibly high heels ever since.”

Park grew up in Ann Arbor and attended Pioneer High School. She recovered from a cancer diagnosis in 2007 to star in the lead role in the school’s production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” She graduated from University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance with a musical theater focus in 2013.

After roles in Broadway productions of “The King and I,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Cinderella,” she won the role in “Mean Girls” that led to her Tony Award nomination in 2018.

She broke into television with her supporting role in “Emily in Paris” in 2020, as well as “Beef” and the third season of “Only Murders in the Building” in 2023.

She received top billing for the 2023 road trip comedy “Joy Ride,” where she and three other Asian American women travel across China in search for Park’s characters mother.

Fey finished her writeup by saying Park is an “ultramodern woman – smart, kind, relatable and uniquely beautiful.”

“She works super hard while remaining completely at play, which is what makes her such a pleasure to watch,” Fey wrote. “I predict Ashley’s career will be so long that we’ll still be watching when she has to switch to flats.”

By Samuel Dodge | sdodge@mlive.com