Victoria Park talks The Flash, her directing dreams and what she’s watching now

Actress Victoria Park chats with Culturess about her character on The Flash, what it’s like working with Carlos Valdes, and her history of directing.

One of the brightest additions to The Flash last season was photographer Kamilla Hwang,  a new character who rapidly became a key piece of the series’ core team thanks to her romantic relationship with Cisco and her new job at Iris’s newspaper, the Central City Citizen.  In a show that doesn’t feature female characters as much as some of us might like, Kamilla is a breath of fresh air: Smart, fun and utterly charming to watch.

Luckily, the same can pretty much be said of her portrayer, actress Victoria Park, who seems to be loving every minute of her CW Arrowverse experience so far.

We got the chance to sit down with Park to chat about what’s coming up for her in The Flash Season 6, her personal history behind the camera, and what she herself is watching these days.

“Honestly, it’s been a dream,” Park said of her time on The Flash thus far. “It’s such a big show and it’s such a great cast to join.”

“Everyone’s been so welcoming both on the cast and in the crew, and it makes it really fun to go to work. Joining something that has such an amazing fan following as The Flash is obviously really insane in a great way. ”

Fans are still getting to know Kamilla as a character, but as one of the few non-superpowered humans left on the series these days, she’s a refreshingly relatable addition to the canvas.

“I love so much about Kamilla,” Park enthused. “She’s really smart; she’s caring, she’s really driven. I think probably my favorite thing about her is her spunk. She’s just a fun gal.”

“I like that she knows who she is, too. She’s confident and she cares about people. But she’s also got a sassy side and that’s really fun to play.”

The launch of the Citizen newspaper in Central City has given her character a chance to do more than just serve as a love interest on the show. Kamilla’s photography is not just a passion for her, but a way of making a living, and it sounds as if we’ll get to see more of her building a career AND relationships at the newspaper with Iris (Candice Patton) and Allegra (Kayla Compton).

“You’ll be able to see her grow as a photographer and a reporter [as the season goes on],” Park said. “I’m really excited about that.”

This is particularly great news given the fact that the Arrowverse shows can occasionally to tell stories about women that don’t involve putting them into a romantic relationship. Happily, it sounds as though the ladies of the Citizen may be having frequent adventures of their own.

“Obviously, I can’t give away too much,” Park warned. “But I can say that Iris’ paper is [made up of]  all women now and [Kamilla] gets some really awesome Team Citizen action in the near future. I’m always for more female friendships [in the show] too, so if the writers read this then – ahem – that’s what we want!”

It’s true – Flash writers, if you’re reading this, it’s past time to show us all these incredible female characters building real relationships with one another. STAR Labs could use a little more girl talk!

“We have so many amazing women on this show, as both actors and people,” Park explained. “I’ve gotten to work with all those women and they’re all just fantastic. So, I’d love to be able to work with them more.”

Kamilla’s romance with core Team Flash member Cisco Ramon was a big piece of  his decision to relinquish his metahuman powers and pursue a more balanced, normal life. And since then, the duo has seemed more solid than ever.

“What I love about [them] is that it just feels like a real relationship,” Park said of Cisco and Kamilla. “They have their issues, of course but they love and support each other; they’re both working and trying to figure that [part of their lives] out. I like that it feels really normal. I don’t know if that sounds really lame, but it’s a nice, easy relationship, and you can tell they love each other.”

“It is really funny to be on a show [where] there’s so much that’s “impossible,” she continued. “But when it comes to our relationship, it feels like we’re not living in this crazy fantasy world where everything [that happens] would not happen in real life. It’s just so normal. And that’s an interesting aspect to the show that I really enjoy being a part of.”

Park also has nothing but praise for her frequent scene partner Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco.

“Carlos is honestly the best! He’s a great human in general. He’s really, really talented, honestly he’s one of the most talented people I’ve worked with. And it’s so much fun working with him.”

And she should know – the actress has experience on both sides of the camera, after all. Park isn’t just a performer, she’s also a filmmaker and cinematographer in her own right.

“In college I  majored in film production and so I was actually planning on working behind the camera [originally],” she elaborated. “But I ended up taking an acting class, just to be a better director and learn to work with actors. And that’s how I got signed with my manager and I ended up just going with it.”

“Even though I’ve always loved acting, there’s a lot of aspects of being on the other side of the camera that I really miss.”

“The creative control, the aspect of storytelling that’s more about creating images and pictures and things,” she explained. “I’m so inspired by all the women in the Arrowverse who are actors who are now directing and I’d love the opportunity to do that same thing. Longterm, I hope to continue to do both [acting and directing].

“I just finished filming a short film that I directed,” Park continued. “I’m wrapping that up right now –  we’re finishing sound design and music and all that stuff. I would love to continue kind of do those little projects on my own on the other side of the camera, [when possible].”

These days, Park is also busy – like all of us, if we’re honest – catching up on all the programming she hasn’t gotten to yet in the age of Peak TV.

“Schitt’s Creek,”  she declared immediately, when asked what she’s watching these days. “You should watch it! I love comedy. I’m always watching comedy.”

“And also this is kind of a throwback but I never finished Mad Men, so I’m going back and rewatching it and it’s actually more enjoyable the second time around.”

New episodes of The Flash air Tuesdays on The CW.