We Asked Skeet Ulrich Why His Picture Hangs Over The Devil's Bed in 'South Park'

Satan has lurked around South Park since the show’s first season, but it wasn’t until South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut that we truly got to know him. The film reveals that Satan is gay, in a relationship with Saddam Hussein, and — as evidenced by the large photo hanging over his bed — a huge fan of Skeet Ulrich. At the time, the actor was still riding the high of his breakout role as Billy Loomis in Scream.

When Satan returned as Donald Trump’s lover at the beginning of Season 27, Ulrich’s portrait reappeared above the couple’s bed in the White House. Throughout South Park’s entire run, the photograph has never been directly addressed, so its significance remains unclear. 

And that’s precisely why I reached out to Ulrich to get his take on it.

“It was before the movie,” Ulrich told me, adding that the South Park producers had contacted his manager to see if he was okay with them using his likeness. “Then I had to sign a thing, but it didn't say what they were going to use it for and you had to be okay with that.” 

When he saw the movie in theaters, Ulrich recalls being “kind of shocked” to see his picture above Satan’s bedposts. But he did ask himself “if it's more to do with Billy Loomis than me, or I'm just a fallen angel and I haven't realized it yet.”

Beyond that, Ulrich doesn’t have much of a theory as to why Satan is such a fan of his, but he seems more than cool with the joke, as he called Trey Parker and Matt Stone "geniuses" during our brief conversation via Zoom. 

Earlier this year, when his portrait reappeared on the show, Ulrich found out via phone calls from friends. He seems as relaxed about it as he was a quarter century ago — except for one thing.  “The only feelings that have changed is why I am not getting a paycheck for the new one. I mean, I'm reappearing. I'll have to review that contract.” And the devil, as they say, may just be in the details on that one.