Why Skeet Ulrich pushed hard to play Colin in AMC's Parish (Exclusive)

Veteran actor Skeet Ulrich of Scream and Riverdale fame makes no bones about how much he wanted to be a part of Parish. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, he revealed how far back his association with actor Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Parish, goes.

AMC's new crime drama stars Esposito of The Mandalorian, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul fame. In Parish, he plays Gracian, a man who left his life of crime behind, until a chance encounter with Ulrich's Colin sends him down a dark road once more.

Parish followed the critically acclaimed series finale of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Fans can catch a brand-new episode every Sunday on AMC.

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Skeet Ulrich was blown away by every element of Parish - AMC's new crime drama

Despite his extraordinary career, Ulrich cannot believe that he bagged the role of Colin in Parish. He is an unabashed fan of the series.

"Kind of everything to be honest. The way they discussed it. I auditioned for it. They were really interested. They wanted me to do a Zoom call with some of the creators. And that call was incredible and inspiring and I don’t know. I just couldn’t believe I got to be a part of it. I feel like I pulled the wool over their eyes or something."

It does help that he is a big admirer of Esposito's work, going back all the time to the 90s, long before the veteran actor immortalized the character of Gus Fring:

"Giancarlo, first of all, is extraordinary. I’ve watched his work since the early 90s on stage when I was in NYU and he was doing plays in the theatre I was training in. And he’s a phenomenal performer and equally phenomenal human being."

There were many elements of the show that appealed to the sensibilities of Ulrich. So much so, that he wanted to be a part of AMC's new series:

"You know, the script, the first episode that I had read before I auditioned for it just blew me away. The music selection, the tone, the rhythms, the characters, just so much fun. It was exciting, it was deep, it was emotional. It had everything you could ask for."

As for the character of Colin, Ulrich approached him from a place of loneliness. Someone with nobody to turn to except for Gracian 'Gray' Parish. Speaking to Sportskeeda, Ulrich stated:

"I really approached the friendship between them. The need. The fact that Gracian Parish is his only family. His only connection in the world."

The star of Riverdale spoke about the connection between his character and the one played by Giancarlo Esposito:

"When people are battling loneliness and they have one person, you know…So, there’s a real desire to maintain, to keep that friendship, to do good by him, to be loyal to him, as he was all those years in prison of never saying a word about his involvement in what they’ve been doing. I think he’s just so indebted to this friendship. And that was a beautiful aspect of it."

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The cast also stars Zackary Momoh, Paula Malcomson, Bonnie Mbuli, and Ivan Mbakop among others. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for more exclusive coverage of the series.