Skeet Ulrich is a seasoned star that has an illustrious career spanning over 30 years, having first skyrocketed to stardom in the slasher hit Scream. Born Bryan Ray Trout, the actor’s stage name came from his childhood nickname “Skeeter” that he received from his Little League coach because of his small size but lightning-fast speed, having lovingly been compared to a mosquito. He adopted his NASCAR driver father D.K. Ulrich’s last name in order to set himself apart from his fellow actors.
Ulrich was a celebrated teen heartthrob thanks to his role as Billy Loomis in 1996’s Scream and in the cult classic The Craft, before going on to establish himself as a dynamic performer with notable appearances in films like As Good as It Gets and in shows such as Jericho and Into the West. Ulrich experienced a career resurgence when he joined the cast of the teen mystery drama series Riverdale, amassing a new and passionate fan base. Here are some of Skeet Ulrich’s best performances.
9 The Newton Boys
20th Century Fox
Skeet Ulrich starred alongside a stacked ensemble cast including Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio in the 1998 Western crime drama The Newton Boys, which centers on the twentieth-century outlaw gang comprised of Texas sibling farmers that robbed both trains and banks throughout the 1920s. The underrated film was directed by Richard Linklater and chronicles the brothers’ transformation from Ulvade farmworkers to savvy criminals who managed to execute one of the biggest train robberies of the century, and features some of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors in their earlier years.
8 Into the West
TNT
The revered Steven Spielberg produced the spellbinding 2005 miniseries Into the West, set in the 1820s and telling two eye-opening tales from life on the American frontier from the conflicting perspectives of a white group of settlers and a Native American family. In the six-episode program, Ulrich appears as Jethro, the brother of wheelwright Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle) who is approached to go on a dangerous expedition to the Pacific Ocean in hopes of establishing a better life.
Into the West was both a critical and commercial hit, earning praise for its honest depiction of the profound effects of American expansion on Native Americans through its enlightening screenplay and compelling performances. The miniseries also went on to receive numerous accolades including two Primetime Emmys, nine Online Film & Television Association Awards, and a Golden Globe nod.
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7 #FreeRayshawn
Quibi
Antoine Fuqua produced the short-form Emmy-winning series #FreeRayshawn, which stars Stephan James as the eponymous Iraqi War veteran who becomes embroiled with the New Orleans police after a failed entrapment ploy goes awry and he becomes the scapegoat. Rayshawn barricades himself in his home with his girlfriend and young son and his only hope of survival and clearing his name is a compassionate police lieutenant (Laurence Fishburne) who makes it his mission to help the young man.
In the taut, fast-paced miniseries, Skeet Ulrich portrayed the tenacious Sgt. Mike Trout, who butts heads with Fishburne’s Steven Poincy over how to best handle Rayshawn and the standoff. The 2020 drama earned universal acclaim from both critics and audiences, acquiring a highly-coveted 100% Rotten Tomatoes score from both groups while being lauded for its representation of racism and police corruption.
6 Jericho
CBS
Ulrich headlined the 2006 post-apocalyptic action drama series Jericho, centering on the devastating aftermath of a catastrophic nuclear attack on 23 major cities in America as experienced by a diverse group of residents of the titular Kansas town. The actor starred as private military contractor Jake Green in the thrilling show, the son of Jericho’s mayor with a questionable past who returns home after five years when the attack hits.
Jericho featured the additional talents of The Walking Dead star Lennie James, Ashley Scott, and Kenneth Mitchell, and was shockingly canceled after just one season; a massive fan campaign helped revive the drama and an additional second season was ultimately granted. Jericho landed on TV Guide’s list of Top Cult Shows Ever, coming in at number 11, and remains an often underappreciated 2000s small-screen gem.
5 The Magic of Ordinary Days
CBS
Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich starred as young newlyweds trying to make it through the hardships of World War II in the compelling 2005 Hallmark drama The Magic of Ordinary Days, which follows Livvy Dunne as she finds herself in an arranged marriage by her father after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Ulrich appears as the kind yet lonely farmer Ray Singleton, whom Livvy marries and who agrees to raise her young child as his own. Based on the Ann Howard Creel novel of the same name, the adaptation was a massive success with audiences and attracted 18.7 million viewers, and became one of the highest-rated made-for-TV films up until that point.
4 As Good as It Gets
Sony Pictures Releasing
Ulrich portrayed a gay hustler in extreme emotional turmoil in the 1997 romantic dramedy As Good as It Gets, starring cinema legend Jack Nicholson as the celebrated but judgmental romance novelist Melvin Udall who is struggling with OCD and becomes enamored by a kind-hearted waitress (Helen Hunt) and her young, chronically-ill son. Greg Kinner appears as Mevlin’s gay apartment neighbor Simon Bishop, a talented artist who crosses paths with Ulrich’s troubled character Vincent Lopiano after he poses for a portrait and whose friends later rob and assault Simon.
As Good as It Gets may have been a smaller role for Ulrich, but he nonetheless displayed his range and power as an actor while playing the guild-ridden model. The film was a huge critical and commercial hit, earning over $300 million at the box office while going on to win two Oscars and three Golden Globe Awards while also garnering praise for its stellar ensemble cast.
3 Riverdale
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The CW
Skeet Ulrich revamped his career when he joined the cast of the 2017 teen mystery drama series Riverdale, in which the seasoned star appeared as former Southside Serpents leader and the father of Jughead (Cole Sprouse) F.P. Jones, sharing the screen with fellow teen idols Luke Perry and Molly Ringwald as the parents of the misfit teenagers. Based on the beloved Archie Comics, the show has become a giant hit and helped make its young cast members bona fide superstars, chronicling the strange occurrences that plague the seemingly innocent and quaint titular town.
Riverdale is currently in its seventh and final season, though Ulrich departed the drama after being a part of the main cast for five seasons. The popular series has reestablished the actor as a buzzed about Hollywood performer and has attracted a new generation of fans who can’t get enough of Ulrich. He told People Magazine, “[Riverdale] certainly has a rabid fan base. I arrived in Vancouver last month and had teenagers waiting to get pictures with me. It’s the strangest thing. I have kids their age!”
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2 The Craft
Columbia Pictures
One of the biggest cult classics to emerge from the 1990s was the 1996 teen supernatural horror film The Craft, which focuses on a group of four high school outcasts who turn to witchcraft in hopes of taking back their power and exacting revenge on those who made them feel like social pariahs. Starring Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, and Rachel True as the wannabe witches, the film depicts the negative aftermath that results from the girls dabbling in the dark magic and showcases them becoming blinded by their anger thanks to their newly acquired supernatural abilities.
Ulrich once again shared the screen with his future Scream co-star Campbell in the celebrated flick, appearing as the popular student Chris Hooker that newcomer Sarah Bailey (Tunney) becomes attracted to. His character falls under a love spell cast by the aspiring witch and is targeted by the vengeful Nancy because of her unrequited feelings toward him. The Craft has amassed a passionate fan following who have helped make the film a horror hit and cherished Halloween staple.
1 Scream
Dimension Films
Arguably Ulrich’s most iconic and memorable role to date was as Billy Loomis in the iconic 1996 Wes Craven slasher Scream, which centers on a mysterious masked killer who is terrorizing the residents of the small town of Woodsboro, California. Neve Campbell stars as the ultimate final girl Sidney Prescott, who along with her group of friends, become the target of the terrifying Ghostface and slowly find themselves being picked off one by one. The classic film’s screenwriter Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Cree, The Vampire Diaries) drew inspiration for the plot after hearing about the Gainesville Ripper who terrorized the Florida city in the early ’90s.
The star-studded hit touted a phenomenal ensemble cast of Hollywood up-and-comers including Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, and Courteney Cox, and featured Ulrich as Sidney’s boyfriend Billy, who harbors a deadly secret. Scream helped launch a lucrative and enduring franchise that has spawned five sequels, with the latest installment being released earlier this year, and made the actor a household name while paving the way for his illustrious career. Ulrich would also reprise his role as Loomis in 2022’s Scream and Scream VI, appearing as hallucinations that plague his daughter.
