Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2003-04) d. Quentin Tarantino

Michael Parks reprises his role as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in Vol. 1. The character bit the bullet in From Dusk till Dawn, but Dusk screenwriter Quentin Tarantino loved the character so much that he had to place him in Kill Bill. Earl, along with his son Edgar (played by his real-life son James Parks), break down the massacre at the chapel where the Bride (Uma Thurman) is found. Parks savors every line of dialogue with a Texas drawl. “This ain't no squirrelly amateur. This is the work of a salty dog.”, he says, as he surveys the damage. It’s an expository scene that bridges the time-jumping narrative of Tarantino’s revenge saga, and it doesn’t feel tedious because Parks makes it his own.

In Vol. 2, Parks returns as a new character, Esteban Vihaio, an 80-year-old Mexican pimp and father figure to the titular Bill. The Bride asks Esteban the simple question, “Where’s Bill?” In response, Esteban tells her a story about how a young Bill watched The Postman Always Rings Twice and was infatuated with Lana Turner. “Bill would begin to suck his thumb to an obscene amount. And I knew from this very moment, that this boy was a fool for blondes.”, he says. It’s a, frankly, relatable line that has stuck with me ever since seeing the movie back 13 years ago. In two very brief scenes in Tarantino’s epic, Parks is an undeniable presence. From a give-no-shits Texas Sheriff to a Mexican pimp, Parks was always a willing to go there, like few characters actors do.

- Marcelo Pico