Childhood & Early Life
Linda was born on July 9, 1978, in Seoul, South Korea. She grew up in San Jose, California. Her father's name is Chuck Park, and she has a sister named Michelle Mason.
Linda attended 'Notre Dame High School' and later joined the 'Bellarmine College Preparatory,' where she participated in several theatrical productions, such as 'Mad Forest,' 'Lysistrata,' 'Cyrano de Bergerac,' 'Richard III,' and 'The Trojan Women.'
Linda attended 'Boston University' and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 2000. During her university years, she attended the 'London Academy of Music' and the 'Dramatic Art and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.'
Linda was 7 when she decided to join the 'Rainbow Community Centre,' but her parents did not like the idea. Hence, she invested her time in reading 'Anne of Green Gables' and 'The Phantom Toll Booth,' which eventually intensified her passion for acting.
In high school, she directed 'Agnes of God' for her school’s black box theater. She was later introduced to the 'Antaeus Theatre Company' through a drama school friend. Linda is a bronze-level international ballroom dancer.
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Career
Linda made her acting debut in 2001, with small roles, such as those of ‘Anna Lin’ in an episode of 'The WB' teenage comedy 'Popular' and ‘Hannah’ (the character ‘Ellie Satler's assistant) in the third installment of the science-fiction adventure film 'Jurassic Park.'
She earned her TV breakthrough role in her debut year itself. Linda was cast as ‘Hoshi Sato,’ a multilingual communications officer, in 98 episodes (till 2005) of the 'Star Trek' franchise series 'Star Trek: Enterprise,' aired on 'UPN.' She appeared in another franchise, 'Star Trek: Captain Pike' (2016), but as ‘Captain Grace Shintal.’
Linda was seen as ‘Renee Hansen’ in the 2004 supernatural drama film 'Spectres.' She appeared in the short films 'Geldersma' (2004, as ‘Min’) and 'My Prince, My Angel' (2006, as ‘Shen’). The latter was Linda's first film as a producer.
In October 2003, Linda performed at the world premiere of the play 'Fuchsia' by Mary Fengar Gail. From October to November 2005, she portrayed the Greek mythological character ‘Clytemnestra,’ the sister of ‘Helen of Troy’ and the wife of the king of Mycenae, ‘Agamemnon,’ in 'Agamemnon.'
In 2007, Linda portrayed a fierce officer named ‘Michelle Lance’ in seven episodes of the 'NBC' crime drama 'Raines.' The same year, she played ‘Deputy District Attorney Denise Kwon’ in 10 episodes of the 'ABC' police-procedural drama 'Women's Murder Club.' Following this, Linda starred as ‘Leechee’ in the 2009 horror–comedy 'Infestation.' He joined the cast of the second season of the 'Starz' drama 'Crash,' as billionaire ‘Seth Blanchard's (played by Eric Roberts) wife and children's author ‘Maggie Cheon.’
Linda made single-episode appearances in 'The Mentalist' (2011, as ‘Dr. Montague’), 'House' (2011, as ‘Dr. Wendy Lee’), and 'NCIS' (2012, as ‘Lieutenant Nora Patel’). In 2011, she as appeared as ‘Anne Deever’ in Arthur Miller's play 'All My Sons,' staged at the 'Matrix Theater' in Los Angeles.
Linda starred as ‘Jan’ in the 2013 romantic drama 'The Face of Love.' The following year, she appeared as ‘Dr. Blair Halstrom’ in two episodes of the 'TNT' crime drama 'Legends.’
Linda's next recurring role came in 2017, when she played ‘Jun Park’ in five episodes of the 'Amazon Prime' police-procedural drama 'Bosch.' In 2018, she had single-episode appearances in the Canadian ('The CW') drama 'iZombie' (as a chef) and the 'Fox' medical drama 'The Resident' (as ‘Janine Levasseur’).
Linda’s stage credits include William Shakespeare's 'Comedy of Errors: The Western,' directed by Jeromy Ceseña and staged at the 'Bellarmine College Preparatory.' She appeared as ‘Yelena’ in Chekhov’s play 'Uncle Vanya.'
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In 2017, Linda became the first Asian–American actor to play the iconic character ‘Maggie,’ the cat in Tennessee William’s play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' The role earned her immense accolades and is one of her most acclaimed stage performances to date.
Linda’s other stage credits include 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' and 'The Sisters Matsumoto' at the 'Huntington Theatre,' 'Love in American Times' at 'San Jose Rep,' 'The Trayvon Martin Plays' at 'Center Theatre Group,' and 'Top Girls' at the 'Antaeus Theatre Company.'
Linda is the creator and executive producer of 'Urbn Harvest,' a cooking web series showcasing recipes with a personal touch. She has often appeared on the show.
She has narrated DB John's audiobook 'Star of the North,' a thrilling tale of a woman's struggle to free her twin sister from captivity in North Korea. Linda is the co-founder of the theater company 'Underground Asylum.'
Family & Personal Life
Linda got married to actor Daniel Bess on October 11, 2014. On June 17, 2018, the couple had their first child, a son.
Linda dated actor Tom Hardy for a year in 2003. They even starred together in the play 'Roger and Vanessa.'
Linda is multilingual and can speak Korean, English, Spanish, and some French.
Linda loves dancing, too. She once stated that dance has always been her second love after acting. She is primarily trained in ballet, but she is adept in other dance forms, too.
Trivia
Even though her husband, Daniel Bess, is Caucasian, he was cast to play Linda’s half-brother in George Bernard Shaw’s play 'Mrs. Warren’s Profession,' an 'Antaeus Theatre Company' production.
Linda was offered a role in the play at 'Cyrano de Bergerac' at the 'San Jose Repertory Theatre' while she already had her 'Star Trek' role in hand. She was, contemplating taking up the role in the play. However, her agents suggested she go with 'Star Trek.' Linda now has no regrets for choosing 'Star Trek' over the play.
