An Interview with Skeet Ulrich from ‘Parish’

Skeet Ulrich as Colin in ‘Parish’. (Photo Courtesy of AMC.)

Skeet Ulrich is a highly accomplished actor that has appeared in countless beloved franchises through his illustrious career. Currently he stars as Colin in the new AMC/AMC+ series, Parish, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with Skeet to discuss his new role.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to know what it was that attracted you to Colin, and this story as a whole.
 
Skeet Ulrich: You know, it was the first reading of it. You know, they had “Yellow Moon” by the Neville Brothers in it, and when I played that, and was reading along, and then the next jazz piece and then next piece. It had an, I don't know, it just had a flavor to it, I had never read, and in terms of Colin, you know, and I think as a whole the story you know, it's about family and it's about you know, the lengths we will go to for family and what defines family and I think that was what was really interesting to me is what does “Brother” mean, in this context? What does, you know, what is this world and then there was this whole element of you know, Giancarlo (Esposito) and Gracián Parish, they carry so much bass notes with the grief that he's dealing with the loss of his son, his relationships falling apart, his business falling apart. And there's so much weight to it, that I wanted this sort of staccato to go along with it so that he could revel in the bass notes. But somebody else is just moving it along.
 
Like if I, if Colin, sat in bass notes as well, we don't really have much going on. So, it was just a thing I heard in my head and was really interested in experimenting with and letting fly. And I think it worked. I mean, I think, you know, I think the two together are, it's really so complimentary. It can't help but think of them as long-lost friends or, you know, people with a massive history together. So yeah, it was it was all kinds of different elements from Giancarlo and the script and the character and New Orleans and all of it.
 
John Betancourt: One of the things that I noticed is there's a lot of want in this story from pretty much every character, they're all kind of searching for something. What would you ultimately say, Colin is deeply searching for?
 
Skeet Ulrich: I think as, you know, for me, it feels like and I and I'm including Colin in this, but I think it's I think there's a real element of loneliness, you know, in all the characters that they're battling against. And I think that's very human. I battle it, I don't know about you, but I think you know, there's a lot of us that are really searching for connection, you know, and in so many different ways that you wonder sometimes if you'll ever get it and so that to me -- and you're right, there is a lot of want from everybody. But I think that's for me that's at the heart of it is this, this desire to end loneliness or to fulfill yourself, in some way connect to somebody in some way that's meaningful. You know, it's an obvious in Gracián, in Giancarlo’s character, you know, that with the world falling apart around him his own world of his own creation, falling apart, this deep, intrinsic loneliness, this everyman quality, and god, the shit he gets involved in as an everyman… and, I mean, it is, it's, it's an extraordinary story.
 
John Betancourt: It really is, and I think that's a good point of loneliness. I mean, I've had my bouts with it, too, and I think that's what I love about this show, is it's not quite a crime drama. Because there's so much depth and so much meaning to it. And I'm curious, you know, since we talked about several themes, ultimately, kind of what do you hope the audience takes away from this on a more underlying theme?
 
Skeet Ulrich: You know, I don't know, I hope they certainly have a blast, I hope they’re moved. But I think it's that for me. I just hope they really get in meshed in it and fall in love with it. And I think there's I think there's a bit for everybody. I think there's a lot for, like I said, for the everyman. I think there's, you know, there's a lot for outsiders to grasp onto there's, you know, a look at what is crime and what isn't, and, you know, when you look at the Horse and what he's doing, and the similarities to what Gracián is doing, how are they really that far apart? One has means the other doesn't have means, but aren't they doing the same thing? Obviously, Gracián is not doing what the Horse is doing. That's not what I mean. But I mean, in terms of how they're trying to be fathers You know, trying to navigate their business. You know, we never even talked about the Horse’s wife, Luke's mom or any of that, so you know, where's is his -- oh, there's so many things that I think that speak to the common man. So, I guess I hope they feel seen and sighted at the same time.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today. What are you most proud of when it comes to your work on this show?
 
Skeet Ulrich: I think the relationship that Giancarlo and I developed between the two characters, you know, excited me from the first moment, and I was fortunate to have a scene partner who was game to just go. You know, it's funny because I look back on Riverdale and if you were to ask me the same question, I would say meeting Cole (Sprouse), you know, he's become one of my dear friends. He's such a great human being. I'm blessed to know him and to get to know him more and more. And I feel the same with Giancarlo. So, I think that yeah, I think just those relationships that have evolved out of out of work.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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