Lou Diamond Phillips’s versatile career has brought him success in feature films, television and theater as an actor, director and writer.
Phillips earned a Tony nomination for Best Actor for his performance as the King of Siam in the Broadway production of Roger & Hammerstein’s The King and I, and his extensive theater credits also include A Hateful of Rain, Whose Life is it Anyway?, P.S. Your Cat is Dead, The Lady’s Not for Burning, Doctor Faustus, and Hamlet.
Phillips can currently be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s “CHE,” co-starring Benicio Del Toro and Benjamin Bratt and will be seen in the upcoming “The Invited.” Other recent credits include “Supernova,” “Picking up the Pieces” with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, the psychological thriller “Hangman,” “A Better Way to Die” and the thriller “Bats.” Recent TV credits include Hallmark Channel’s “The Trail to Hope Rose,” a guest role on CBS’ “Numb3rs” and a costarring role in the TNT mini-series “The Triangle” and the 2001 CBS series “Wolf Lake.”
Phillips recently directed and starred in “Sioux City” for Cabin Fever Entertainment, playing a Native American man who was adopted as a child by a Jewish Family and raised in Los Angeles. The film received strong critical notices and firmly established Phillips as a feature film director. He co-starred in Ed Zwick’s critically acclaimed military drama “Courage Under Fire” opposite Meg Ryan, Denzel Washington, and Matt Damon. He received the Blockbuster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Monfriez, the headstrong and determined army gunner desperate to protect his honor.
Philips first gained widespread attention as Richie Valens in “La Bamba” and solidified his reputation in “Stand and Deliver,” for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. He has also starred in such films as “Young Guns” and “Young Guns II,” “Disorganized Crime,” “Renegades,” “The First Power,” and “Shadow of the Wolf.” For Miramax’s “Ambition,” Philips both wrote and starred in the film. Phillips made his directorial debut with “Dangerous Touch,” a psychological thriller he also co-wrote.
Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, Phillips began acting in the sixth grade and became actively involved in the Dallas/Fort Worth theater and film scene. His early film roles included the Texas-made “Angel Alley,” “Interface”, “Trespasses,” and “Harley.” Today, Phillips enjoys teaching film technique and drama. He is a guest lecturer on acting at the American Film Institute and hopes to continue his teaching efforts by opening an extension of the Film Actor’s Lab Los Angeles in the near future.
Phillips resides in the Los Angeles area with his four daughters.
