Atlanta’s Ivan Mbakop Isn’t Sure Zenzo Survived AMC’s ‘Parish’ Season Finale

The series, set in New Orleans, stars Emmy nominee Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad,” “The Mandalorian”) as Gray, a broken, broke driver with a criminal past who returns reluctantly to his dark methods of paying the bills and ultimately avenging the death of his teenage son. Mbakop’s character is not a fan of Parish – nor of his more sophisticated and level-headed younger brother, who goes by the name Horse and runs their very dirty human trafficking operation.

“In African culture, the father usually turns the family business over to the older brother,” Mbakop, who has lived in Atlanta since 2008, said during a recent interview at a Starbucks in Smyrna. “But Zenzo is so hot-headed, so abrasive, that his father in South Africa allowed Horse to take over the business. There is serious resentment about this.

When Horse brings a Parish stranger into his group, Zenzo is deeply suspicious. His revenge? He becomes a mole, providing information to a rival human trafficking gang led by Bradford Whitford’s Anton in an attempt to have his brother (and Parish) killed so he can take over.

“The horse brings someone we don’t know,” Mbakop said. “The worst part is that he’s American. If you notice, our entire team is from Zimbabwe. Who is this stranger?

The season finale leaves a cliffhanger, making it unclear whether Mbakop’s character survives as the siblings fight for supremacy and their father arrives from South Africa to resolve the family conflict.

Mbakop is unsure whether his character will see a second season, something AMC has not yet committed to. But he hopes so. “Zenzo is a lion,” he says. “He fights to make a living.”

For Mbakop, he said he was still learning the craft of acting. He would come over on his days off to watch the filming of the TV show and observe Esposito. “I had a front row seat to see a legend in action,” he said.

Esposito, he said, is not a Method actor who has to stay in character to play his character. He remembers their first scene together, which is super tense. “I go out. He comes out behind me,” he remembers. “We’re in the hallway. When they call cut, we burst out laughing like little children.

Mbakop, the latest cast regular, said he thought he got the role because he didn’t interpret Zenzo during auditions as an out-of-control hothead. Rather, his insecurity and anger bubble beneath the surface, only to emerge at inopportune moments.

And Zenzo is nothing if not pragmatic, teaching Horse’s 12-year-old son how to use a gun. “It’s not a politically correct show,” Mbakop said. “Children in Africa are being trained to become warriors. It teaches the child that you cannot let others define your destiny.

Mbakop himself grew up in Cameroon and came to the United States to attend Tuskegee University in Alabama, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He married his college colleagues in 1999 and moved to Atlanta, where he became interested in theater, working on stage and in commercials through the J Pervis Talent Agency.

Mbakop has also run a software company with his wife for 15 years and took a break from the business for several years. In 2017, he got back into it by writing, directing and starring in the short film “Victus”. He then spent a few years in Los Angeles taking acting classes.

He now juggles his technological and acting ambitions. He plans to launch an artificial intelligence platform to help emerging actors understand how to interact with casting directors, agents and managers.

“AI does not pose a threat to our jobs today,” he said. “But in three years, when the next SAG-AFTRA contracts come in, we will have a more difficult time. If you’re an actor now, do as many good projects as you can, make things happen, network, be on a big show, make things happen. AI is coming, I don’t blame the studios for using it. It’s a business decision.

IF YOU LOOK

“Parish,” available on AMC+ and On Demand through several options including Roku, Sling, YouTube TV and Xfinity On Demand