Janel Parrish

Janel Meilani Parrish (born October 30, 1988 ) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in Pretty Little Liars (2010–17) and its spin-off, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, and as Margot Covey in the To All the Boys series (2018–21). She also portrayed Young Cosette in the Broadway production of Les Misérables (1996), and Jade in the teen comedy film Bratz (2007). She finished in third place on the tenth season of Fox's The Masked Singer in 2023. She has also starred in numerous movies for Hallmark.

Early life and education Parrish was born in Kāne'ohe, Honolulu, Hawaii, is of German, Irish, and English descent. Her parents are former bodybuilders, and her mother worked for a Honolulu health club.

At the age of nine, 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. 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, 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

Film and television 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.. 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 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 bullied 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 in NBC's comedy-drama series The Mysteries of Laura as one half of a jewelry store-robbing duo. 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.

In 2023, Parrish competed in season ten of The Masked Singer as "Gazelle". She finished in third place. 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.

Dancing with the Stars 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", their Jazz dance received the season's first perfect score, 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 finale but ended up in third place, behind Alfonso Ribeiro and Sadie Robertson, who took first and second place respectively.

Other ventures 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.

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. 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.

Parrish and Long were separated for a couple of months before news broke in April 2026. On May 21, 2026, Parrish had reached a settlement in her divorce with Long. Parrish was in a relationship with professional dancer Sasha Farber. They broke up in July 2026.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2007 Bratz Jade 2009 Fired Up! Lana April Showers Vicki 2010 Triple Dog Cicely 2011 One Kine Day Leilani 4 Wedding Planners Hoku Wolf 2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Savannah2018I'll Be WatchingKate Riley To All the Boys I've Loved Before Margot Song-Covey Hell Is Where the Home Is Estelle Tiger Charlotte 2020 Mighty Oak Gina Jackson To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Margot Song-Covey 2021 To All the Boys: Always and Forever Christmas Is Cancelled Brandy Barnes 2022 Until We Meet Again Lisa Wagner The Ray Faith 2025 The Littles Sarah

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 Laura Episode: "Being Bernie Mac" 2006 Zoey 101 Sara Episode: "The Silver Hammer Society" 2006 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 1–2); main role (seasons 3–7) 2013 A LiArs Guide to Rosewood Mona Vanderwaal Narrated special recap episode 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 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 2023 Family History Mysteries: Buried Past Sophie McClure Television film 2023 Never Been Chris’d Naomi Television film2023 The Masked SingerGazelleContestant on season 10; 3rd place 2024 Haunted Wedding Jana Television film 2024 Sugarplummed Sugarplum Television film 2025 XO, Kitty Margot Song-Covey Episode: "Sealed with a Kiss" 2025 Return To Office Ms. Monday/ Olivia "Liv" Smith Television film 2025 Christmas on Duty Blair Birch Television film 2026Two For TeeTeeTelevision film

Music videos Year Title Artist Role 2007"Rockstar"Prima JBratz 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) 1996 Les Misérables Young Cosette National tour and Imperial 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 '90s Musical Kathryn Merteuil Rockwell Table & Stage2017 A Walk to Remember: The Musical Jamie Sullivan Prospect Theatre Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical Cecile Caldwell (Le) Poisson Rouge 2017–2018 Grease Sandy Dumbrowski Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres 2019 The Last Five Years Cathy Hiatt After Hours Theatre Company 2021 Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical Kathryn Merteuil The Bourbon Room

Discography

Singles

Promotional singles TitleYearAlbum "Lay Me Down" (with Brian Justin Crum)2015 "Heart Made of Stone" "Senseless" "Life Is Beautiful"

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2008Razzie awardWorst ActressBratz (film)Nominated 2012 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars 2013 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars 2013 TV Guide Awards Favorite Villain (with Keegan Allen) Pretty Little Liars 2014 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars 2016 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars 2017 Choice TV – Villain Pretty Little Liars