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. in 2007. 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 ==