Hypable spoke with Deputy Parrish actor Ryan Kelley about Teen Wolf season 4 and what he knows about his character’s supernatural powers.
Before you get too excited, know that Kelley is just as confused as the rest of us.
In Teen Wolf season 4, episode 9, “Perishable,” Deputy Parrish was zip-tied to the steering wheel of his patrol car and set on fire by fellow deputy Haigh. Parrish survived, though we don’t quite know how that happened just yet.
“Playing a scene where basically you’re being burned alive is never quite fun,” Kelley tells us. “We went through all night filming that scene, and thankfully I was not filming the next day because I had just lost my voice toward the end, where we did a couple of takes where Jen [Lynch], the director, was just like, ‘Just go for it. Scream your lungs out.’ And by the end, my voice had been completely shot. So scenes like that are fun to do, but they’re daunting on your energy level.”
The cold open for episode 9 was the turning point for Parrish. We already knew he was a supernatural creature because he was a part of the Dead Pool, but he was not aware that he had any abilities and we had no clues as to what sort of being he was.
Since we now know he is able to withstand fire, we can start narrowing down the field and crossing off certain types of creatures. But what about Kelley? Does he have any clues as to what Parrish could be?
“I am kept in the dark, almost as much as the fans are,” he tell us. “The one direction I was given was that Parrish was sort of out of control and almost vindictive, which could be maybe a key into a little bit behind the scenes of Parrish. So, he just lost control. He had just been burned alive. And I think anyone in that situation would not handle it that much differently [laughs].”
When asked if he has any idea what Parrish is, Kelley says, “I hate this game. Trust me, every time I was on set, I would try to get Jeff [Davis, executive producer] to spill the beans on something or give me a hint. I would always tell him, ‘Come on, give me a hint, give me a hint, please.’ And he just smiles and walks away.”
While Kelley definitely doesn’t know what Parrish is yet, he says the idea that the deputy could be a phoenix is the theory he has seen most from fans.
Parrish’s character is quite an enigma at this point, but fans had attached themselves to the deputy early on in season 4. Kind, logical, and sassy, Parrish is the type of character that you inherently trust. When asked what Kelley thinks of the fan’s love of the character, he says he enjoys it.
“There really isn’t that much information about Parrish out there,” Kelley explains. “So, it’s been awesome, but it’s also, at the same time, people have questions for me and things like that and there’s not as much background because Parrish is relatively new. But it’s amazing. It’s awesome. I didn’t expect it, but it’s awesome and it’s flattering.”
“I think part of the reason,” Kelley says, as to why people have connected with the character so quickly, “is Parrish is in a pretty cool situation. He’s like a sidekick to the Sheriff, who never really had a sidekick. But he’s younger, so he can still sort of attach himself to the younger cast, and he’s like this bridge in the middle that just kind of fits. So that’s pretty cool, and I think the fans enjoy that.”
Another aspect of the character fans enjoy is Parrish’s relationship with Lydia. While you could hardly call them friends at the moment, their interactions have felt loaded from the very beginning.
“There’s definitely something there,” Kelley says. “Whether it’s romantic or not, Parrish is definitely intrigued by Lydia. His attention when the Sheriff brought her in…he was a little more excited or a little more inquisitive than maybe the average person would’ve been. And he went through that experience where he found the dead bodies with her and his suspicions of her being psychic were kind of there all along and that just intensified it. I think he’s intrigued by her, definitely. In which manner, I’m not quite sure.”
Many fans have certainly boarded the Parrish and Lydia ship, but we don’t even know if Parrish will survive being on the Dead Pool until the end of the season, let alone if there are any romantic prospects in his future.
If you’d like to hear the complete interview with Ryan Kelley, hop on over to Not Another Teen Wolf Podcast episode 77, where the final hour is a chat between the hosts and the actor about his time on set, his character in general, and whether he’d like to be good and dead or evil and alive.
Teen Wolf season 4, episode 10, “Monstrous,” airs at a special time on Sunday, August 24 at 7 p.m. ET on MTV ahead of the VMAs. You can also catch it at its normal time on Monday at 10 p.m.
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