Korean-American actor Steve Park guest-starred on Seasons 2 and 3 of Friends and is looking back on what he has described as “an extremely painful experience” for him.

During a recent appearance on the “Pod Meets World” podcast, Park recalled an uncomfortable environment on set for Asian actors.

“It was at the time, I felt it was kind of a toxic environment,” Park said. “James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and [the assistant director] was calling him to the set and you know, essentially saying, ‘Where the fuck is the Oriental guy? Get the Oriental guy.’”

He continued, “This is bigger than this show. This isn’t the first time that this happened, you know, but this is the environment where this is business as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I guess it was. And nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this is normal behavior.”

A frustrated Park wrote a Mission Statement titled “Struggling For Dignity” and sent it to everyone on his email list.

“Being an Asian-American actor, I continue to struggle to find roles for myself that are not insulting and stereotypical,” he wrote at the time, according to his post, which is available in archived editions online.

“I just finished working as a guest star on one of the highest-rated shows on television, which brings me to my next point,” Park continued in his statement. “Working with the people involved with this show was an extremely painful experience for me. A disturbing lack in generosity of spirit and basic human courtesy, in addition to a racial incident on the set, has forced me to speak out.”

Park currently can be seen in Mickey 17. He went on to guest star in numerous television series including most recently Law & Order: SVU, 12 Monkeys, Person Of Interest, The Mindy Project, and many more.