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.