Marilyn Manson Excited 'Like a Kid on the 1st Day of School' to Return to TV in 'Salem'

— -- It's been a couple of years since Marilyn Manson fans saw him on the small screen, but that doesn't mean that the Prince of Darkness hasn't been busy.

Manson took some time out while on the road to chat about his guest-starring role in WGN America's "Salem," which returns for its third season Wednesday.

"I'm doing a casual bible reading right now," he quipped.

Actually, he was settling into Dallas, Texas, one night before he would take the stage at Gexa Energy Pavilion back in August. Manson, 47, was in the middle of his tour with Slipknot that received decidedly mixed reviews.

Music is the conduit to Manson's creative life. It was his music partner Tyler Bates, who composes the score for "Salem," that landed Manson on the show. "That is sort of how the introduction came about," he told ABC News.

In "Salem," inspired by the real-life witch trials in the late 17th century, Manson portrays Thomas Dinley, a dark barber surgeon, who's not afraid to slice people open. It was the perfect role for Manson who actually has a barber's chair in his home. He added for details' sake, "I collect straight razors."

"I related to the character a lot," Manson continued. "Finding out what's inside the human body. I really want to know what’s inside of the man. Does he have a soul or is it just meat and skin? Well, he's the one to find out.

"It’s a character motivated by his childish interests and I think that's much like me," he added. "His money really isn’t his motivation. His motivation is curiosity."

Manson, born Brian Warner, hasn't had a major role on TV since 2014, when he played Ron Tully on "Sons of Anarchy." The shock rocker is happy to return to life on set.

"My brain doesn’t have an outlet sometimes for all the ideas that I have, so [acting] satisfies a different need than music does, or that painting does," he explained, when asked to define Manson, the actor. "I don’t have to think about performing as much. When I’m offstage, I’m with people that I know. When I’m onstage, I’m in front of people that I’ve never met before.

"With acting, I just become unaware of the camera and I’m talking to the other actors and then chemistry happens and you go to a different place in your head," Manson explained. "It’s almost like when you’re a little kid and you’re playing cowboys and Indians or playing dress up. It’s a magical thing that you enjoy."

Despite the rigors of life on the set, Manson said he got inspired to wake up every day.

"Getting up at 7 a.m. was just a pain in the a--," he deadpanned, "but I was excited like a kid on the first day of school...before you learned that school sucks."

While filming, Manson said he often flew "back and forth" from Los Angeles to finish his band's tenth album, titled "SAY10." It's set for release in February 2017. Without prompting -- as if he couldn't wait to talk about his first love -- Manson detailed his forthcoming album, explaining that he recorded it in Louisiana.

"That’s where I really started making music with 'Antichrist Superstar,' and all the elements that I experienced when I lived in New Orleans really came back," he said, referencing his 1996 Platinum-selling album.

"My southern accent came back. I tried to bury it," he admitted with a laugh. "If you can believe it that came back. And there is a mysticism and Santería and voodoo down there that really affects you, fills the music."

Bringing Manson back to talk about television, the rocker said he wouldn't mind playing a character a little less dark.

"I think that comedy suits me very well because I am so sarcastic," he said. "I [wouldn't want] to play something that was a backwards cliché, like a priest or something. That would be ridiculous. It would be too tongue-in-cheek, but I’d love to play some dad or something."