Ashley Park thought she was going into shock after members of BTS acknowledged her performance online, but it actually turned out to be COVID-19.
The Emily in Paris star stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday (Jan. 20), where she discussed covering BTS’ Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping hit “Dynamite” on the show.
When Kimmel warned the actress of how passionate the ARMY is, Park revealed that she understands the excitement because she’s a massive fan herself. “Well, I am ARMY,” she revealed. “I don’t even realize how much I was ARMY until this happened.”
She then recalled how she suggested a BTS song for the first episode of season 2, not thinking anything of it. “Then a couple days before we were going to shoot this scene, we had a whole costume and everything, the producers miraculously got the rights to ‘Dynamite,'” she revealed. “I remember being on set that day and I was actually super nervous because I hadn’t been in front of a live audience in a while too, and I said to Lily Collins, who is the best, most supportive person on set ever, I was like, ‘If BTS were ever to see this in an alternate universe, I would want to make them as proud as they have made me as a Korean and as an artist.'”
Her dreams came true, as after the episode aired on Netflix, both RM and V posted the clip to their respective Instagram pages. “The whole rest of the day, after they posted that, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t get up,” Park gushed. “And I was like, is this what your body feels like when you go into shock? My sinuses, my head… I’ve never had this experience before. I’ve never been a fangirl to this extent.”
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Park then had a hilarious realization. “I woke up the next day and I had to take a COVID test for something and I took a COVID test and I had Omicron, which is why I was in such a fog,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t think it was COVID because I really thought I had gone into shock.”
Watch the full interview with Kimmel below.
This article has been updated for clarity.