*In an exclusive and revealing interview, actor Skeet Ulrich opens up about his latest venture, the riveting new series “Parish” starring Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Mandalorian).
Known for his dynamic performances and captivating presence on screen, Ulrich delves into the intricacies of his role, shedding light on the series’ compelling narrative and working with the incomparable Giancarlo Esposito.
Esposito stars as Gracian “Gray” Parish, “a family man and proud owner of a luxury car service in New Orleans. After his son is violently murdered and his business collapses, an encounter with an old friend from his days as a wheelman resurfaces old habits, sending Gray on a high-stakes collision course with a violent criminal syndicate,” per the synopsis.
In a recent interview with Tamron Hall, Esposito shared the real-life circumstances that affected how he played this role.
“For this character, there was a time in my life when I was bankrupt, losing my house, losing my marriage, not identifying with people who wanted to help me, thinking I could do it all on my own, everything was failing, what is my way out?” he recalled on the daytime talk show. “I was 45, 50 years old. For me, I had four children and how can I help them survive and have a good life so the feeling that Gracien Parish, Gray Parish, in this is feeling that he is not a man because he’s not able to provide and then he’s not present because he’s lost a son so he’s in deep traumatic turmoil,” Esposito continued.
“He’s actually depressed and he is unable to relate to his wife or the child he has left because he hasn’t solved the murder, the murder has not been solved of his son,” Esposito shared with Hall.
When we asked Ulrich what aspects of this project caught his attention and drew him in, he said, “I think instantly when I saw Giancarlo’s name, I was like, “Oh wow. And then reading it, the material was just… it was exciting, it was emotional, it was exhilarating, and it was just a page-turner of excitement.”
He continued, “And then the character, I just felt him from the start and kind of grasped that sense of loneliness, that desire for family. There was just so much that I related to and understood. And then the Cajun accent was just the icing on the cake, to get to do that, and to mess around with it on a daily basis was so much fun.”
Ulrich (Scream, Riverdale) portrays an old acquaintance to Gray, Colin, who he describes as “incredibly loyal.”
“[He] has spent 17 years in the toughest prison in the US, Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and never ratted out Gracian Parish and his involvement in what put him there,” Ulrich said. “He gets out. He needs his buddy’s help to save his life, and then sh*t starts to unravel, and they both get pulled into a world that they couldn’t have imagined. I think the real tease of it all, though, is by the end, you’re wondering what is his loyalty exactly and is he really loyal?”
In the clip below, our exclusive conversation with Ulrich offers a tantalizing glimpse into the captivating universe of “Parish” and Ulrich’s profound contribution to its storytelling.
Shot on-location in New Orleans, “Parish” also stars Zackary Momoh (The Nevers, Harriet, Doctor Sleep) as New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangster The Horse; SAG® Award-nominee Paula Malcomson (Watchmen, The Hunger Games, Ray Donovan) as Parish’s wife and mother to his two children, Rose; Bonnie Mbuli (Invictus, Wallander) as Shamiso Tongai, The Horse’s smart and protective older sister; Ivan Mbakop (Hawkeye, Red Notice) as The Horse’s brother, Zenzo; Arica Himmel (Mixed-ish, Black-ish) as Gray and Rose’s daughter Makayla; and Dax Rey (The Good Fight, Chicago Fire) as The Horse’s son Luke.
The six-episode drama from executive producers Eduardo Javier Canto and Ryan Maldonado premieres on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, March 31.
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