White t-shirt, David Gandy Wellwear; jeans, Lacoste; shoes, Grenson; socks, London Sock Co.
By Grace Thorburn
Actor Max Parker, a native of Manchester, UK, is working on his first major acting project in America. After diligently following his agent’s directions, Parker landed a starring role in the upcoming Netflix series, Boots, set to premiere on October 9, 2025. He started the audition process as a newbie, or a ‘wild card,’ as he referred to himself. The eight-part drama is inspired by former US Marine Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine, which follows a bullied, gay high school student named Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer) who joins the Marine Corps, only to face personal changes both mentally and physically. Parker plays Sgt. Sullivan, a decorated Marine who while struggling to keep his own secret hidden, finds a reflection of himself in Cameron. Vera Farmiga (The Departed; The Conjuring series) stars as Cameron’s mother.
For Parker, this will be his first time dipping his toe into the water playing the role of someone in the military, never mind the role of a drill instructor. “I didn’t necessarily think that I was right for it because in Hollywood, drill instructors are usually all big dudes,” said Parker. “The more and more I read the script and did research and watched footage back from the 90s…it sort of made me really excited for the project.” Parker said that as a Brit, he had a lot of homework to do to figure out how to play the role of not only someone in the military, but the role of an American. He had to not only adjust his mannerisms for the role, but also had to dive deep to understand the demands of serving in the armed forces. He watched hours of real footage from the military for preparation, even adopting a military training routine to keep fit.
His character in Boots uses the Marines as an “outlook to run away from his own problems,” said Parker. “He’s quite troubled.” To further understand his role of playing a sergeant from the ground up, Parker opted to train as a recruit rather than as a drill instructor. He trained at an old military base in New Orleans and many scenes that were filmed for the show required the entire cast plus 100 supporting artists. “By the end of it, we all felt like we’d gone through boot camp,” laughed Parker.
Black coat, ami @ Designer Exchange; shoes, Dior; socks, Sock Shop; shorts, vintage; white vest, stylist’s own
Black coat, ami @ Designer Exchange; shoes, Dior; socks, Sock Shop; shorts, vintage; white vest, stylist’s own
“When you watch this show, it holds up a mirror to current life, even though it’s set in the 90s. Just about the importance of acceptance and the importance of the spice of life and that you can’t get through life or get to the end of bootcamp by yourself.” The filming process started for Parker about two and a half years ago. As Sgt. Sullivan, he gets to play both the villain and the good guy while learning more about American military culture.
“All these characters that wouldn’t get along in the outside world, and seeing the jigsaw slowly put together by the end of boot camp, it makes you realize that that’s the importance of military life. They are prized on their unity. You can’t finish boot camp by yourself, and I think the world could use some of that right now.
“As a British person, that doesn’t necessarily have a huge affiliation with a family that has been through the military, just being on set, being surrounded by our advisors and certain bits in the show makes you patriotic, even though it’s not my country. It gives you that sense of importance,” said Parker. He even recalls feeling emotional during a scene where they were filming a morning flag salute, and that it led him to further understand the responsibility of those serving in the military and the pride that comes along with that.
White shirt, Lej S; blue & white knit, 8ON8; shorts, Arket; socks, London Sock Co.; shoes, Grenson
Previously, Parker starred as Mikhail Tanner in the fantasy horror series Vampire Academy; as Luke Posner in the soap opera Emmerdale; and as Alasdair “Base” Newman in the medical drama Casualty. Off camera, Parker has been spending time with his husband, actor Kris Mochrie. The couple were married in August 2025 and met during the beginning of COVID in 2020. Parker said that while he doesn’t have a solid Manchester accent, he has a Northern accent that he attributes to moving around a bunch. His favorite binge-watch show recently has been the Emmy-winning The Studio, and he’d drop everything to play the role of an elf in The Lord of the Rings. His fridge is always full of Cherry Coke Zero, and he considers himself to be surprisingly bad at “most sports that involve a ball aside from bowling.” As someone with ADHD, Parker considers it to be his superpower.
Don’t miss the release of Boots on October 9th, 2025. All eight episodes will be released simultaneously on Netflix.
Photographer: David Reiss @davidreissphotography
Stylist: Holly Macnaghten @holly_macnaghten