Alexandra Park: the highs and lows of diabetes and Hollywood

At 23 years old, former Home and Away actor Alexandra Park left Australia for Los Angeles and was nearly immediately cast alongside Liz Hurley and others in The Royals. She was also dealing with a diagnosis of type-1 diabetes. Ahead of the release of Sugar High, a book on her experience, she talks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about striking a balance between stardom and self-care.

Alexandra Park, author of Sugar High, and her dog Billie.

Aussie telly, for many of us, is a mixture of cult appeal and the exotic — the standard tropes of sun-kissed beaches and unreasonably attractive protagonists, meeting a vernacular language and accent that resonates with many Irish people on a deeper, almost muscle-memory level.

No more enduring an example of this genre exists than soap opera Home and Away. Still welded onto afternoon and evening schedules here in Ireland some three decades after its premiere on import-hungry Network Two, the soap still trades in stories of teenage tumult and the events that befall the denizens of a nebulously-located beachside caravan park.

While synonymous with escapism in our more temperate climes, the soap has also acted as an incubator for countless Antipodean actors, from Isla Fisher to Chris Hemsworth and the late Heath Ledger. Among its vast and ever-changing cast over the years was Alexandra Park, serving two stints on the show in different roles, in Aussie soap’s idiosyncratic fashion.

“ Home and Away was the first real 'job' that I had, and getting a job on Home and Away, that is a huge launching pad for any aspiring actor in the country. It's a huge deal just getting on that show. When that happens, you just feel so grateful, you've made that first leap on to onto something that's a big deal, in Ireland and other places."

“I was 19, and I actually played two roles on Home and Away, which is not uncommon for Australian actors, to play multiple roles on the show as it's gone on for so long. I played a farmhand called Claudia, and I didn't even have my driver's license yet. I remember my mom driving me to my first day on set, filming out in on a farm location — it was the most exciting day of my life!” 

Alexandra Park: "What I learned is that there's a whole world of different challenges that come with type-1 diabetes, that you really can only learn about on your own, through experience"

At 23 years old, Park was faced with two life-changing events. The first was a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes — no small news at that age — while the other, after upping sticks for Los Angeles to further her career, was being cast in The Royals, an all-star affair that became a bona-fide hit on US channel E!.

A lot of change for anyone to handle, then, much less someone still very much in the throes of young adulthood.

“At first, I was working in a clothing store in Sydney, and just living with my flatmates — very little money, but a huge plan to move over to Hollywood, and pursue my dream of becoming an actor. And then I started to feel very, very sick; increasingly strange symptoms started to happen. When I was hit with a diagnosis, I was definitely in a stage of denial where I was waiting for the doctors to tell me that they'd gotten it wrong, or that it was going to go away, or it wasn't a lifelong thing. It was a very strange and surreal experience to have, and one that took a long time for me.” 

Diabetes, in its multiple forms, is a story shared by millions around the world, yet still somewhat misunderstood in the wider public eye, characterised as simple reactions to blood sugar levels with little thought to diet, daily measures such as medication, or the consequences of it in later life.

Park sought to improve her knowledge and further her own understanding of the condition early on, but striking the balance while spending hours on set was a learning curve all its own.

“The doctors, when you're diagnosed, they give you some insulin, they teach you how to use it, they give you a bunch of pamphlets, and they basically send you on your way. What I learned is that there's a whole world of different challenges that come with type-1 diabetes, that you really can only learn about on your own, through experience, because the condition is so individualistic."

“It was really hard at first. I was losing sleep and struggling to sort of stay in the focus of what I was trying to do, because of understanding so little about what my blood sugars were doing. 

"The thing is you don't know what's going to happen: you check your blood sugars and it tells you you're at a certain number, but there's that fear in between those checks as to what it's going to do, you know, in five minutes, in 10 minutes, in an hour; if you're going to drop, if you're going to be high."

“And that was really hard for me, to stay in the headspace of 'everything's fine, I have this under control'.” 

Alexandra Park: "It takes a lot of courage to put your hand up and ask for help, and to share your story. But that's what makes you brave."

Park has woven stories of her two lives into a book: Sugar High collects Park’s experiences with diabetes and the Hollywood grind and brings them into one, very personal narrative.

It’s a very personal set of events and emotional responses, but it was motivated by a desire to outline to others why diabetes doesn’t have to pose challenges or restrictions.

“The reason I wanted to write the book, and where the idea came from, was that I was diagnosed when I was a struggling actor with a big dream working in a clothing shop, and everything was very normal. Going from that to diagnosis and my dream job, which I'd been working towards for, like, 10 years. Then I spent the next four years on the show traveling around the world, playing a lead character in a TV show, which is something that I'd never done before, while dealing with this complicated disease.

“I guess I realised while it was happening, that I was able to do both of these things at once. And I figured that it would be a valuable experience to share for anyone who's just been diagnosed with type 1, or diagnosed with with anything really, that it doesn't have to hold them back from what they want to do in their life, and what their plans were before they were thrown this huge curveball."

“I just felt that it was something worth sharing, and it was quite exhilarating to realise on the good days, that yeah, this is bloody hard. It’s a bit scary at times, but I'm doing this and I'm proud of myself, and I'm learning about myself on a deep, deep level, that I don't think I ever would have, had I not been in this experience.” 

Park’s acting career is motoring along, also, having gone from The Royals to experimenting with different movie roles, as well as new series Everyone is Doing Great, recently rolling out on streaming service Hulu in the US, and in search of a streaming home in Europe.

With an end somewhat in sight to the Covid crisis, and screen projects around the world, including her new show, returning to production, Park has her sights set not only on getting Sugar High out there, but on the next chapter of her acting career.

With that being said, living with diabetes has kept her rooted to her reasons for pursuing her craft, a big takeaway for anyone reading the book.

“I used to stalk celebrities online with Type One Diabetes, but I was always too scared to reach out to anybody, or join communities. It takes a lot of courage to put your hand up and ask for help, and to share your story. But that's what makes you brave. That's what makes you learn what makes you feel capable and able. There's no shame in that, in sharing the hardships and, and, and learning from them.” 

• Sugar High is out now, via RBL Publishing, with part of the proceeds going to diabetes charity Life of a Child Foundation.