Randall Park’s daughter means the world to him.
In this week’s issue, The Residence star, 51, speaks about how his 12-year-old daughter Ruby, whom he shares with wife, Jae Suh Park, altered his life for the better.
“It completely changed my perspective and only in the best ways,” Randall says of Ruby, who is on the autism spectrum. “Right now, she is the bottom line for me. Before Ruby, I was definitely coming from a more self-centered place. Now [my life] is all about her. I’m just obsessed with her. She brings us so much joy on a daily basis.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories
Ruby, who Randall says is always “singing and laughing” and “running around the house,” has sensory difficulties and limited verbal skills.
After Randall and Jae Suh learned of her diagnosis, Randall says “a gut instinct for me was, ‘What can we do to make her better, to fit into this world?’”
But over time — and through his work with KultureCity, an organization focused on acceptance and inclusion for “invisible disabilities” — Park is focused on “making the world a more inclusive place.”
“I want Ruby to live in a world that accepts her, includes her and is more compassionate to her,” the Watson star shares. “I felt like KultureCity was such a great organization working towards that.”
Together Randall and Jae Suh enjoy creative activities with their daughter such as baking and painting. “She’s such a happy kid,” says the proud dad. “She gives us back so much.”
The actor says that Ruby is also “really into arts, crafts and making stuff,” and even has her own space in the house dedicated to her art supplies. He suspects that his daughter turns to art because it’s therapeutic, much like he did when he was a kid.
“Growing up, I definitely used art as therapy. It continues to be therapeutic. I’d imagine it’s therapeutic for Ruby because she sees the world differently than even I did as a child,” he explains. “She processes things differently. I’d imagine that when she’s sitting there just focused on drawing a rainbow with a smiley face on it, it brings her something.”
As for advice he’d give to parents of kids who have autism, Randall explains “it is a spectrum, so there [are] so many different kinds of ways it expresses.” Ultimately, he encourages all parents to give up on getting it right all the time.
“You’re going to not be perfect,” he says. “That’s okay. In fact, I think it’s good that you’re not perfect. As long as you really love your child, you do your best and you respect your child.”
He’s leading by example. In his exclusive PEOPLE interview, Randall opened up about the changes he made in his life after the death of his father to cancer last year. “Just wanting to be healthy as long as possible, to be there for [Ruby] as long as possible, really hit me,” he says.
He began training and completed his first marathon in New York City in November — something he says never crossed his mind until he was approaching his 50s.
“That’s part of the reason why I decided to sign up for the marathon, to give myself a goal, and to also prove to myself that even at this age, I can do hard things,” Randall, now 51, explains. “That was the spark for me.”
The Residence is now streaming on Netflix. Watson airs Sundays on CBS at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Read the full article here
