Hunter Parrish Tharp[1] (born May 13, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing the role of Silas Botwin in the Showtime series Weeds and for his performances in the Broadway productions of Godspell in the role of Jesus and Spring Awakening as Melchior.[2]

Hunter Parrish
Parrish at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2009
Born
Hunter Parrish Tharp

(1987-05-13) May 13, 1987 (age 37)
Alma materTexas Tech University Independent School District
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active2003–present
Spouse
Kathryn Wahl
(m. 2015)
Children1

Early life

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Parrish was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Annie Parrish, who works with children with autism, and Bruce Tharp, an engineer. Parrish has an older brother.[3][4] He graduated from Plano Senior High School and Texas Tech University Independent School District.[5]

Career

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2003–2005: Early career

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After being seen at a showcase in New York, directed by Peter Seidman, Parrish was offered professional representation and went on to guest star in several television shows and appeared in the film Sleepover (2004).[6]

2005–2012: Weeds and Broadway debut

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Parrish gained recognition when he began starring in the hit Showtime series Weeds in 2005. The show ran for eight seasons, ending in 2012. Part of the main ensemble cast, Parrish portrayed the role of the older Botwin son, Silas.

Following filming of Weeds fourth season, Parrish joined the cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Spring Awakening the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City.[7] He made his Broadway debut on August 11, 2008, replacement for the lead role of Melchior Gabor for which he received critical acclaim. He remained in the role until the show closed on January 18, 2009. Parrish returned to Broadway two-and-a-half years later, to star in the 2011 Broadway revival of Godspell in which he starred as Jesus. Performances began October 13, 2011. He left the show on April 15, 2012, to film the final season of Weeds.[8][9]

During this period, Parrish had many other roles on screen. He has supporting parts in the films RV (2006), Freedom Writers (2007), and 17 Again (2009), and It's Complicated (2009). In Freedom Writers, Parrish played Ben Samuels, the only white student in a California high school class. The National Review Online wrote that Parrish had played the role with "unassuming humour".[10] He had a handful of guest role on TV and took part in the 2008 short "Cougar 101 with Hunter Parrish" for funnyordie.com.[11] From 2007 to 2009, he hosted a web talk show with his friends Kyle Sherman and Allison Tyler called Two Guys and a Girl.[12]

2012–present: Dramatic roles in television and film

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Since 2013, Parrish has had a string of recurring roles on television. In 2013 and 2014, he guest starred on The Good Wife as Jeffrey Grant, a young man accused of murder.[citation needed] In 2015, he also had recurring roles in The Following and Hand of God. Parrish had a main role in the Amazon series Good Girls Revolt, which was released in 2016. In 2017, Parrish was cast in the recurring role of Clay Haas in the second season of ABC's thriller series Quantico.[13]

In March 2019, it was announced that Parrish would have one of the lead roles in the Jane The Virgin spin-off series Jane The Novela.[14] Ultimately, the show was not picked up by The CW.[15]

Earlier, in January 2019, it was announced that Parrish be part of the upcoming Netflix drama series Ratched.[16] Produced by Ryan Murphy, Ratched scored a two-season, straight-to-series order, with the first season filmed from January into July 2019.[17][18] The first season was released on September 18, 2020.[18]

In 2022, Parrish was cast in the Hulu mystery thriller series The Other Black Girl, a television adaptation of the 2021 novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris.[19] The series premiered on September 13, 2023.[20]

Personal life

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Parrish has been married to Kathryn Wahl since 2015.[21] The couple have one child, a daughter born in September 2020.[22] Parrish is a Christian.[23][24]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Sleepover Lance Gregory
2005 Steal Me Tucker
2005 Premonition Charlie Short film
2005 Down in the Valley Kris
2006 RV Earl Gornicke
2007 Freedom Writers Ben Samuels
2009 17 Again Stan
2009 Paper Man Bryce
2009 It's Complicated Luke Adler National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
2010 The Space Between McDonough
2012 Gone Trey
2014 Still Alice Tom Howland
2015 A Rising Tide Sam Rama
2017 All Nighter Kip

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 The Guardian Hank Episode: "The Father-Daughter Dance"
2005 Summerland Tracy Hart Episode: "The Pleiades"
2005–2012 Weeds Silas Botwin Main role; 102 episodes
2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Jeremy McBride Episode: "Gum Drops"
2006 In Justice Kevin Rounder Episode: "Confessions"
2006 Close to Home Jay Stratton Episode: "A House Divided"
2006 Campus Ladies Student health employee Episode: "Webcam"
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Jordan Owens Episode: "Responsible"
2010 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Kid Flash / Geo-Force (voices) Episode: "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!"
2011 Pound Puppies Tundra (voice) Episode: "Snow Problem"
2013–2014 The Good Wife Jeffrey Grant 3 episodes
2015 The Following Kyle Locke 5 episodes
2015 Hand of God Josh Miller 5 episodes
2015–2016 Good Girls Revolt Douglas Rhodes Main role; 10 episodes
2017 Quantico Clay Haas 9 episodes
2018 This Is Us Alan 2 episodes
2019 Jane the Novela Felix Unaired television series
2020 Ratched Father Andrews 2 episodes
2023 The Other Black Girl Owen Main role; 10 episodes

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue Notes
2008–2009 Spring Awakening Melchior Eugene O'Neill Theatre Broadway replacement
2011–2012 Godspell Jesus Circle in the Square Theatre Broadway revival
2018 Good Grief JD Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway
2021 To Kill a Mockingbird Jem Finch Shubert Theatre Broadway replacement

Discography

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In 2012, Parrish recorded his first EP called Guessing Games, featuring six songs. At first, Guessing Games was only available for sale in the lobby of Godspell’s home at the Circle in the Square Theatre, but with a bigger release to follow. The first single from the EP, "Sitting at Home", was released on iTunes on June 7, 2012.[25] The complete EP was released later that month, on June 26.[26]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2006 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
(among the cast)
Weeds Nominated
2008

References

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  1. ^ Virginia, Birth Records, 1864-2014
  2. ^ Hunter Parrish Internet Broadway Database. 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2016
  3. ^ "'Weeds' star Hunter Parrish is regular guy with a cool job". USA Today. August 15, 2010.
  4. ^ Profile, cjonline.com; accessed April 9, 2015.
  5. ^ "Friday Night Lights Star, Others, Earn Diplomas at a Distance Through Texas Tech University Independent School District". Texas Tech University. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
  6. ^ Nestor, Frank (October 19, 2011). "Theater Actors to Watch 2011". Backstage Magazine. New York, NY. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  7. ^ ""Weeds" Star Parrish to Join Broadway's Spring Awakening". Playbill.com. July 7, 2008. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  8. ^ "Hunter Parrish to Take on Jesus in Broadway's Godspell Revival!". Broadwayworld.com. August 10, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  9. ^ "Corbin Bleu to play Jesus in 'Godspell'". nydailynews.com. March 23, 2012. Archived from the original on April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  10. ^ Hibbs, Thomas (January 5, 2007). "Inspiring Schlock". National Review Online. Archived from the original on January 29, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  11. ^ "Cougar 101 with Hunter Parrish". Funnyordie.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  12. ^ "Two Guys and a Girl official site". tgglive.net. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  13. ^ Denise Petski (January 12, 2017). "'Quantico': Hunter Parrish Set For Major Recurring Role". Deadline. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 15, 2019). "'Jane The Novela': Hunter Parrish To Star In the CW's 'Jane The Virgin' Spinoff Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  15. ^ White, Peter (May 16, 2019). "The CW Open To Developing Another 'Jane The Virgin' Spin-Off After Passing On 'Jane The Novela' Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  16. ^ Denise Petski (January 14, 2019). "'Ratched': Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon Among 10 Cast In Ryan Murphy's Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  17. ^ Petski, Denise (February 4, 2019). "Rosanna Arquette To Recur On Ryan Murphy's 'Ratched' Series On Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "'Ratched' Season 1: Netflix Release Date & Everything We Know So Far". What's on Netflix. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Rice, Lynette (October 31, 2022). "'The Other Black Girl': Sinclair Daniel, Ashleigh Murray, Brittany Adebumola and Hunter Parrish Join Hulu Original Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  20. ^ "First Look and Date Announcement: Hulu Original "The Other Black Girl"" (Press release). Hulu. July 18, 2023. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023 – via The Futon Critic.
  21. ^ "usm.ag/1Qi71oe" – via usm.ag/1Qi71oe.
  22. ^ [1], instagram.com; accessed January 6, 2021.
  23. ^ Profile, interviewmagazine.com; accessed April 9, 2015.
  24. ^ "From 'Weeds' to Broadway, young actor thrives on rebellion". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  25. ^ "Sitting At Home – Single by Hunter Parrish". iTunes Store. June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  26. ^ "Guessing Games – EP by Hunter Parrish". iTunes Store US. Apple. June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
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