Michael Parks is frequently cited by long-tim
e fan Quentin Tarantino as “the world’s greatest living actor.” Despite having given over one hundred and thirty on-screen performances, playing a wide variety of roles, from the bible’s Adam to Robert F. Kennedy, Parks’ career and success have never truly matched the heights that his acting ability deserves, at least in any sustained capacity. In his later career especially (he has arguably grown even better as an actor in his old age), the kinds of roles and films that he has been offered and has taken have declined sharply in quality (13 Moons, The Dead One and Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s Ball, for example). However there have been some exceptions, including Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s brilliant use of him in their films, and his role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Kevin Smith. with his upcoming film Red State, has justly put Parks centre stage again, in a role that looks set to be stunning.
Smith describes Red State as a horror film, but it opts more for a psychological terror (exploring religious and political themes) than being an outright horror in the typical sense. Smith tackles a true and very real horror that exists in America today – fundamental Christianity. Parks plays the lead in the film; Pastor Abin Cooper, the evil and twisted head of a creepy Christian cult family known as The Coopers. Smith used the much despised real-life church leader Fred Phelps as a jumping off point for creating the character of Pastor Abin Cooper, which should give some insight into just how scarily realistic and terrifying Parks’ character here is likely to be.
Smith has stated openly that the main reason that he wrote Red State was so that he could work with Michael Parks, and because he felt that Parks deserved a film unto his own, rather than just the small roles that Tarantino and Rodriguez keep putting him in. Smith and others who have already seen Red State are calling it a phenomenal and spellbinding performance by Parks – “He’ll work after this forever, until the end of time” Smith has speculated, “I’m not even overselling it; his performance is one of my five favourite things that I have ever encountered in this lifetime. It is just so chilling and… magnetic to watch” – and it will very likely rank among the very best performances of Parks’ career. So in celebration of Red State, which is debuting at the Sundance Film Festival this month (you can find a link to the teaser trailer below), we decided to compile a list (we couldn’t get our hands on every turn he’s given, but we saw a great deal) of the best Michael Parks performances to date.
Fargo in Wild Seed (1965)
In this fondly remembered film, Parks played an independent-minded young drifter (a performance which likely earned him his role of Jim Bronson later in his career). It’s a touching first film for Parks that follows the story of a young girl who runs away from her adoptive parents to find her biological father, meeting drifter Fargo along the way, and ultimately finds that her father refuses to accept her into his life. It’s astonishing that Parks’ career never truly took off after this strong debut performance, and it remains perhaps the definitive turn of his early career.
Bus Riley in Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965)
In the same year as Wild Seed Parks starred opposite Ann Mar
gret in this bittersweet romance about a man returning home to discover that his girl has married an older, wealthy man. In both films (and in many of the TV shows that he had parts in before these films) Parks plays mild-mannered and endearing characters who were at the same time very easy to anger (which sometimes lead to violence), allowing him to play both ends of the spectrum whilst at the same time earning his place as a heart-throb among the female audience. Parks would never really play these kinds of characters again post Then Came Bronson, making these two films essential entries in this list.
Jim Bronson in Then Came Bronson (1969, TV series)
In this hit TV series Parks played a newspaper journalist who quits his job after his friend commits suicide and then takes to travelling across America on a motorcycle. Parks’ Bronson is a cool, laid back, free spirit, who travels from town to town with no goals except to meet new people, have new experiences and ‘to be free’. The TV show’s pilot was a feature length TV film, in which Bronson meets and journeys with Bonnie Bedelia’s Temple Brooks. The show only lasted for one season, but Jim Bronson remains one of the roles that Parks is best known for.
Joseph in Can Ellen Be Saved? (1974, TV movie)
In Can Ellen Be Saved? Parks played a creepy church cult leade
r, which might prove to be very similar to the performance he gives in Red State as Pastor Abin Cooper. Joseph gives sermons confidently and passionately, and successfully warps and takes advantage of young and impressionable minds that are seeking answers. Parks’ manner of delivering his lines – slowly, often with long pauses in between words and sentences – very much suits sermons, meaning Parks is often at his scariest and most effective when behind a podium preaching malicious and evil nonsense that is masked as good willed religious premises.
Jack Kern in Escape From Bogen County (1977, TV movie)
It is highl
y likely that Parks’ character here, Jack Kern, was the basis for Tarantino’s character of Earl McGraw that he later went on to write for Parks, as the the two characters are so very similar that Kern could effectively be a young McGraw. The story follows a young wife (Jaclyn Smith) who wants free of her tyrant husband, but fails at every turn until Kern decides to side with her and help her attain her freedom. Kern singing to Smith’s character in the county jail (Parks also had a singing career) ranks among the most memorable scenes of Parks’ career, as he sits down outside the jail bars with his guitar and says “I told you I’d sing for you”, delivering on a promise that he made earlier.
Robert F. Kennedy in The Private Files J. Edgar Hoover (1977)
In The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover Parks played 
Robert F. Kennedy himself, and did a great job of capturing the vocal inflections of the real man. He puts his own spin on the role as well, playing quite a dishevelled version of Kennedy. Many of the greatest actors have dabbled at portraying great real life historical figures at some point in their career, and Parks did exceptionally well in this instance.
Royce in Hard Country (1981)
Here Parks played the sleazy, business-minded older brother of protagonist Kyle (Jan-Michael Vincent), who arrogantly feels he can hold sway over his younger brother’s life. Parks plays the character as being outwardly nasty – at one point the protagonist catches Royce sleeping with his wife (Kim Basinger) and a fight between the brothers ensues – yet also clearly retaining a love for his brother inside, despite his actions. It is this delicate and fear-fuelled relationship between the two brothers that is at the core of the film, and both actors bring the emotional intensity necessary to make this narrative work.
Tank in Club Life (1986)
Club Life has a similar set-up to the 1989 film Road House, except that it
pre-dates Swayze’s famous action film and it has Parks in the lead. Parks’ character Tank is the head bouncer at a night club who takes a young, new bouncer (Tom Parsekian) under his tutelage. Tarantino allegedly pays homage to Club Life and Parks’ performance in his Kill Bill Vol.1 by using the line “Take a hit of this and be somebody” (when Madsen walks into the manager’s office at the strip club), which is a line taken directly from Club Life. And in From Dusk Till Dawn, Tarantino has Parks’ character Earl McGraw state “I’m gonna get tanked tonight”, which references the name of the character. Two stand out scenes for Parks in the film are one in which Tank attempts to teach Hector (Curtis) the ropes and proceeds to beat him up quite severely in the process, and another in which Tank is sitting at a desk and smoking whilst recounting his failed attempt at pursuing an acting career when he was younger, and how all of the girls used to say “he looks just like Jimmy Dean” – which is something intentionally placed because it rings true to Parks’ real life a little, in the sense that many have said he looked a lot like James Dean in his early career, yet his career never managed to take of like Dean’s did before he died.
Jean Renault in Twin Peaks (1990-1991, TV series)
In the second season of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s hit TV series Twin Peaks Michael Parks plays the sinister and very creepy brother of Jacques Renault, Jean Renault. Putting on a thick and very strange yet effective French accent, Parks brings a very scary villain to the show. Jean Renault arrives in Twin Peaks seemingly to get revenge for the death of his brother, and sees a window of opportunity to cause havoc by kidnapping Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), the daughter of rich businessman Ben Horne, and holding her for ransom. In the true vein of Lynch weirdness Parks’ Renault is eventually killed by David Duchovny dressed as a woman. The unique tone and style of the show allowed Parks to play a very intense character here. Parks has played the villain many times in his career, but Renault stands out as perhaps the creepiest of of them all.
Officer Donnelly in The China Lake Murders (1990, TV movie)
In this TV movie Parks played a cop who goes on a murder
spree. His character Donnelly is very creepy, often imagining violence and murders in his own head whilst in everyday situations (whether he goes onto commit them or not), yet he remains calm and centred enough to pass as a regular cop, which he exploits to lure women into his clutches. Tom Skerritt also plays a good cop who is onto Donnelly and tries to bring him down.
Ronny ‘Del’ Delaney in The Hitman (1991)
Another performance that adds to Parks’ pantheon of creepy 1990′s villain roles is his portrayal here of good cop turned crooked, Ronny Delaney; a man so cold-hearted that he blows up a child without any remorse. The film itself is a great Chuck Norris action flick. Norris’ cool and confident good guy and Parks’ scary Delaney rub off effectively against each other, creating great anticipation for that final showdown where the two will finally face off against one another.
Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Planet Terror (2007) and Death Proof (2007)
Parks plays the drawling, stereotypically Southern Texas Ranger Earl 
McGraw in these two Rodriguez films and two Tarantino films; as a character who is clearly very heavily influenced by the character of Texas Ranger Jack Kern. These McGraw performances have all been put under one performance here, rather than four, since they are all the same character.
The first of these McGraw performances is in From Dusk Till Dawn. Parks chats to a store clerk (John Hawkes), unaware that the two criminals (Clooney and Tarantino) are actually hiding out at the back of the store with two hostages. He slurs out various derogatory and politically incorrect comments about a food server with mental health problems – “Nadine should have hit that boy in the head and sold the fuckin’ milk” – and Hawkes’ clerk reciprocates similarly. McGraw then leaves to use the bathroom and upon his return is shot through the head by Tarantino without ever knowing what hit him. This short scene remains one of the most memorable parts of the film, due to Parks’ great performance. Kevin Smith has commented that the reaction most people have to McGraw’s death is negative, in the sense that the viewer likes this character so much from the off, and wishes to see so much more of him that they’re aggravated when he is killed off so soon.
Tarantino then reprised the role of McGraw in Kill Bill Vol. 1, where the character is fleshed out and developed marvellously. McGraw pulls up to the crime scene listening to loud and upbeat folk music and we’re deliberately treated to a shot of four pairs of sunglasses (five including the pair he’s wearing) sitting on the dashboard which are all identical in style and shape, and which only differ in colour; all building upon McGraw’s unique and ineffably Texan persona cleverly. Here Parks also acts alongside his real life son, James Parks, who plays the deputy and son of McGraw, whom McGraw only ever refers to as “son number one”, which has its own additional stereotypical Texan implications.
Tarantino and Rodriguez then reprised the role again in both of their Grindhouse efforts, Planet Terror and Death Proof, in which the character is unfortunately given only minimal screen time and serves mostly just to provide some reflective exposition for the audience, alongside James Parks again.
Esteban Vihaio in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Certainly Parks’ most impressive and breathtaking performance to do date, for the fact that he transforms himself into this new persona (so unlike his other roles) so convincingly that most people would never guess it was him unless they were told, or until they saw the end credits (in which Tarantino makes a point of making it clear). With the help of some excellent make-up, Parks pulls off a Latin American accent so well that most would never guess that this character wasn’t portrayed by an actual Latin American actor. It’s not just the illusion that Parks creates that makes this performance so great, however; he comes up with a whole new set of unique nuances and facial expressions here, and delivers them with a powerful intensity that makes you understand clearly that Vihaio is a character to be feared and treated with respect.
James Wagley in The Listening (2006)
In this engaging and exceptional government cover-up thrille
r Parks plays James Wagley, an aging NSA officer who defects due to the heinous crimes of the people he works for. After defecting, he works to unveil the NSA’s top secret surveillance system to the world. Parks’ son, James Parks, plays the antagonist in the film, and does so very well indeed. Here Parks plays restrained and good intentioned; which makes his defecting all the more engaging and surprising when it occurs. As has been mentioned, Parks has rarely been given lead roles in his later career (before Red State), but this is one notable exception and here Parks proves his astounding skill as a leading man and ability to captivate the audience. The film has been compared to The Lives of Others for not only its audio surveillance angle, but also in how Parks manages to gain our sympathy completely and make us question the morality of invading people’s privacy.
Red State will acquire a UK release date once Kevin Smith chooses a distributor for the film, which he claims he will do straight after the screening at the Sundance Film Festival.
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