An auto passion propelled him to “Parish”

As Giancarlo Esposito talks, rich passions come pouring out.
There’s his love of acting … and people … and cars, which makes “Parish” (show here) seem ideal.
This is a bracing, six-part mini-series that starts at 10:15 p.m. Sunday (March 31) on AMC, right after the conclusion of “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.” He plays a former getaway driver, nudged back into hiis old life to save a friend.
“I’ve lived wiith it for so very long, through many incarnations and developments,” he told the Television Critics Association.
A decade ago, “The Driver” was a three-parter in England. At the same time that he was playing the evil governor in “The Walking Dead,” David Morrissey had the title role, zooming around the hard-scrabble city of Manchester, England.
“I love driiving,” Esposiito said. “It’s something that captivated me the first time I watched the original series.” That left the question of where to set an American version.
Then came the tangle of ideas for an American version. where would iti be set.
The choice was New Orleans, which fits a story about a guy rebuilding his life. “After (Hurricane) Katrina, you find a city that’s rebuilding iitself,” said producer Eduardo Javier Canto.
One moment, the screen can flash with music and paraders; the next, people are driving through abandoned streets or running through a cemetery’s monuments. “It’s a city with demons and a city with great light,” Esposito said.
And it fits Gracian “Gray” Parish, whom he plays. Shedding his life in crime, he had a wife, two kids, a house and a car service. But his son was killed, his business was diminished (by Uber and such) and his wife wants to sell the house.
He has a money crisis, which Esposito can relate to.
Yes, at 65 he’s a popular actor with five Emmy nominations for playing shrewd villains – three as Gus Fring in “Breaking Bad” and its prequel and two as Moss Gideon in “The Mandolorean.” He’s been busy for three decades – but had slow times before that.
“I had a Volvo, which I had to sell, because I was bankrupt,” he said.
The car was a personal treasure, he said. “I redid it with my own hands. It was absolutely gorgeous. I had to give it up, so my family could survive.”
His daughters sat in the car one more time, before it left. “I did the right thing,” he said. “I let it go. I paid the mortgage. I eventually lost the house.”
And then his career took off. Now he plays a man with stronger forces tugging at him.
There is his friend Colin, who has many flaws and one strength. “Colin’s a man of his word … and he’s going to be there for him,” said Skeet Ulrich, who plays him.
And there’s Horse, who does human trafficking from his native land. “The world will see him as a Zimbabwean gangster,” said Zackary Momoh, who plays him and prefers to see him as a guy trying “to build a better life for his family.”
Which is just what Gray Parish tries, as he uses (and misuses) his love of cars.