Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
1.) We’re super-excited to have some time today with acclaimed actor Hugh Parker; holiday greetings and salutations Hugh and thanks for taking time from a busy schedule to speak with us and our ever-inquisitive readers here at Vents Magazine! Before we dive into the Q&A celluloid mosh-pit, how are the final weeks of 2025 finding you and yours?
Thank you for the kind invitation and I hope your readers had a happy and peaceful holiday period.
The end of 2025 was nice and busy for me. I performed in a stage production of Aaron Sorkin’s, A Few Good Men and shared screen time with Chris Hemsworth filming on Subversion.
2.) Major kudos and accolades on the upcoming science fiction thriller motion picture SPACE/TIME which is set to thrill moviegoing audiences when it makes its eagerly anticipated North American premiere on January 13, 2026 on video-on-demand via rent or purchase! Starting at the top, can you explain what SPACE/TIME is about and how your character of ‘Holt’ figures into the proceedings?
Space/Time is a Sci Fi movie with a plot based around a scientific team working on new forms of propulsion for space flight. The team are well financed by corporate entities but are shut down when there’s a catastrophic accident. There’s also an unexpected outcome from the project that Holt becomes obsessed with. Holt is determined to continue the work and takes it underground with dubious ethical choices causing conflict. Thematically, the film explores the idea of how far would you go to achieve what you believe is the right thing.
3.) Did you know as soon as the screenplay for SPACE/TIME from writer/director Michael O’Halloran and Adam Harmer crossed your professional desk that this was a production you wanted to be a part of? Have you always been a fan of the science fiction and thriller genres of film?
Michael and Adam wrote the role of Holt specifically with me in mind and they both had such drive and determination that it was hard to say no. It certainly helped that I found the story compelling. There’s an ethical debate at the heart of it. They had written a proof of concept trailer for a feature called Break the Rock. We filmed it over a number of days and multiple locations, but that project never happened but it did show us that we could collaborate together. Those elements made the decision easy.
Yes, I’ve long been a fan of Science Fiction. As a kid of the seventies, Star Wars holds a very special place in my heart. Around that same time I watched Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run .. both had movies and tv series, and then onto Alien and Blade Runner. Over time I’ve become an avid reader too. I researched the Hugo Awards winners and started making my way through the list. The Man In The High Castle, Flowers for Algenon and The Left Hand of Darkness have been standouts for me. I think Sci Fi allows for that magical What If? element to come into play.
4.) Speaking of the ever-amazing Michael O’Halloran, what was it like collaborating with him while working on SPACE/TIME? Is Michael what some actors might refer to as ‘an actor’s director’?
Michael and I enjoy a very good relationship, professionally and personally. We are both committed to our work and have strong opinions. We shook hands shortly before filming, in anticipation of that commitment and opinionated stance having the potential to spill over. We knew there would be long days and each of us pushing for what we felt would be the best approach or outcome. That pre-filming handshake reminded us that we respected each other and any on-set disagreement would come from a place of trying to find the strongest outcome. Yes, he’s an actor’s director but he also knows when to trust an actor’s instinct. When he can see what the intention is and how it supports the scene, he knows not to give himself extra work in refining something that already lands.
5.) SPACE/TIME features an accomplished and phenomenal cast! What was it like exercising your own considerable acting chops alongside the likes of Ashlee Lollback, Pacharo Mzembe, Haroon Jafarey-Hall, and Rob Horton among others?
I was lucky in that I’d worked with Ash, Pacharo and Rob before, so I knew I was in good company. Haroon and I were knew to each other, but we got along immediately. He’s a beautiful calm and grounding presence. Ash and I were keen to push each other, in a professional way, to get the most juice out of every scene. The cast were universally supportive of each other and had each other’s backs.
6.) In your humble opinion, what differentiates SPACE/TIME from the Distinguished Competition on the current day movie scene?
Well, Space/Time was realised on a budget that would be a fraction of even most indie movies but, on screen, it still looks like a well-resourced film. Necessity was very much the mother of invention on this project. The film has great heart and that comes from the care invested in the writing and the characters. The creatives on S/T have great respect for many of the great filmmakers and that style is evident on screen.
7.) SPACE/TIME is being released via Epic Pictures. What makes Epic Pictures the perfect home for SPACE/TIME? Do they get the sensibility of the sci-fi genre and understand who its audience is?
Epic have a track record of knowing where a film sits and that sense of understanding makes them great custodians for Space/Time. It’s a comfort and an inspiration to feel Space/Time has found its home with Epic as its US distributor.
8.) Can you give cinephiles a hint or three as to what else you have coming up movie-wise in 2026? Is it shaping up to be a pretty busy year already?
I can be seen in Runner, starring Alan Ritchson. Subversion, starring Chris Hemsworth and Lily James. And, of course, Space/Time.
9.) What’s the E! True Hollywood Story on how you landed upon the pathway of being a respected and acclaimed actor? Was acting always at the top of your proverbial ‘Wish List’?
I wanted to be a writer. I’d send spec scripts out, primarily to the BBC in London. These would be sketches pitched to whatever shows were playing at the time. It was through the academic courses I was studying, to better understand the craft of writing, that I ended up at drama school in London. Three years at RADA helped me and my writing partner get some material produced and on screen. I would happily lie and use the slightest pretext to get my foot in the door of production companies and the offices of performers to pitch material. The training is astronomically expensive and it was only through the financial support afforded me by Sir Anthony Hopkins that I was able to complete the course. After a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company, I focused working on television shows and ended up working alongside the comedy heroes I’d hoped to write for. I left the UK in 2006 and moved to Australia. I’ve been fortunate to work across all mediums here ever since.
10.) Final – SILLY! – Question: Favorite movie about the making of movies – Living in Oblivion, The Player, Hollywood Shuffle, Barton Fink or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Oh, man! Barton Fink. I saw something of myself as the struggling writer up there on screen. And the hotel that BF lived in reminded me of an apartment that I had in London (very briefly .. I couldn’t stand it) … that sense of unseen lives behind closed doors, light spilling out of the frames and muffled sounds. But where were the actual people?! It felt malevolent, somehow. I lasted less than a week and then moved out to sleep on a friend’s floor. The Coen brothers absolutely nailed that disconnection and impersonal world.
Details where to watch Space/Time here: https://epic-pictures.com/film/spacetime
