Biography for
Lou Diamond Phillips

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Mini Biography

Lou Diamond Phillips is currently shooting Aquaman (2006 TV Pilot). This TV series is in development for the CW fall 2006 schedule. He will be playing A.C.'s father, "Tom Curry". Mr. Phillips recently starred in "The Triangle" (2005) (mini) which was delivered by the following quartet, Craig R. Baxley - Director, Dean Devlin - Writer (story), 'Rockne S. O'Bannon' - Writer (teleplay), Bryan Singer - Writer (story). Lou's diverse performances have garnered him a "Tony Award Nomination" for the critically acclaimed "The King and I" (1996 Broadway Musical), a "Golden Globe Nomination" and an "Independent Spirit Award" both for Stand and Deliver (1988). Lou has also starred in the following accomplished feature films: Courage Under Fire (1996), The Young Guns franchise (Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990)) and La Bamba (1987), among many others.

Spouse

Trivia

The name Phillips is from his step-father.

He plays with the group, "The Pipefitters with Lou Diamond Phillips".

Is named for Gunnery Sergeant Lou Diamond, USMC.

Is 1/8 Cherokee.

Was seriously considered for the role of Agent John Dogget on "The X Files" (1993).

First wife, Julie Cypher, partnered with Melissa Etheridge.

Is of Spanish, Scottish/Irish, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, and Cherokee ancestry.

Graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Drama

Graduated from Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Has 3 daughters with second wife Kelly Phillips: twins Grace and Isabella (born 5 October 1997) and Lili Jordan (born 26 September 1999).

Was nominated for Broadway's 1996 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for playing one of the title roles, the King, in a revival of "The King and I."

Grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas

Worked at Whataburger as a teen, becoming a shift leader during his term of employment.

Enjoys doing theater.

Good friends with Kiefer Sutherland.

He started acting in theater at the Stage West in Fort Worth, Texas.

He was once engaged to Jennifer Tilly.

Loves playing poker and has held games at his Los Angeles home for nearly two decades for his friends and others.

Turned down his role in Supernova (2000/I) a few times before eventually accepting it.

Was very good friends with the late Brandon Lee.

Contributed Native American vocals on the Jon Bon Jovi solo album Young Guns II (1990) soundtrack.

Lou and his wife, Yvonne, became the parents of a girl, Indigo Sanara, on October 9, 2007.

Met wife, Yvonne, while shooting a Radio Shack commercial in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Personal Quotes

The only power an actor has is the ability to say, "No".

[on getting his part in "24" (2001)] That was a funny situation, because Kiefer [Kiefer Sutherland] and I are still very tight. We've done something like five projects together over the years, and we see each other socially every so often since Young Guns (1988). We got the call from the people at "24", saying, "Listen, we don't have a script yet, but the episodes are going to revolve around Kiefer, Dennis Hopper and a role that we'd like you to do". That's really all I needed to hear. So I made one phone call -- to Kiefer's cell phone on the set -- and said, "Listen, man, they want me to come on the show. Is that cool with you?" And he said, "Yeah, c'mon, let's go!"

[on working with Harrison Ford] I've got to say, Harrison is probably the most relaxed actor I've worked with in my life. He's truly amazing. They say "Action!"--boom! There's Harrison Ford. I was doing a scene, I'm sitting across a table from him, and between takes I kind of looked over, and I had one of those moments where the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I went, "Oh my God, that's Harrison Ford!" When you're working, you don't really think about those things, but I just had one of those starstruck moments where it's just like, "Look where I'm at".

[on his success] I felt I was the luckiest guy in the world when I landed La Bamba (1987), and I still feel the same way. I feel fortunate to be employed in the film business, and still be standing. There's a lot of guys that were around when I made "La Bamba" who aren't as fortunate - and it's not a matter of talent or hard work, it's just the breaks sometimes, you know? I've been fortunate that the right film has come along for me every couple of years. I've been lucky, I think.

[on selecting roles] There's very few things that I'll turn my nose up at, because some of my biggest successes have been ones totally out of left field. Stand and Deliver (1988) was a tiny little film made for less than $1 million. If I can find something in the script or the character, or even in the cast, that I go, "All right, this is worth doing", then I'll do it. Unfortunately, there was a time in my career when I felt responsible for how a film came out, and I'm just now starting to grasp the concept that there's only so much you can do. You can only show up and do the best work that you can do, be responsible for your character, and be as giving and supportive of the cast and the crew as you can. But when all is said and done, did they have enough money to make the movie? Did the director have a clear vision of it? And even if it turned out to be not a bad film, is it going to be seen, or is it going to fall between the cracks? There's some little films of mine that didn't see the light of day, and yet I still think they were good movies. I think there's this philosophy in Hollywood that if it doesn't make $100 million, it's not a success. And unfortunately, there's quite a few $100-million films that just aren't that good.

[on being a working actor] I play poker with some guys, like [Charles Durning], and they say, "Are ya working?" They ask that - and they don't care what it is - you're just fortunate to be a working actor in Hollywood. With every new job I get, I feel the same way. I have that same excitement. I have that same gratitude for being asked to the dance.

[on filming "The Triangle" (2005) (mini) in South Africa] I filmed Red Water (2003) (TV) in Cape Town, South Africa, so I had a number of local haunts that I'd been to before, and I really, really just love that city and the people are so polite and so wonderful. Not only that, it was a real treat for me, because since I was there for such a long period of time, my three daughters were able to come down and spend 10 days there. So my time off was very welcome because it was like a paid vacation for me. I was able to take the girls on safari, shark cage diving and to the top of Table Mountain. It was an amazing tourist trip while on the clock.

The Gypsy in me still loves going on location; loves meeting new people; loves the three month, "I'm in summer camp" kind of thing.

Just before Courage Under Fire I made a decision to start going after quote unquote bigger roles. I think Hollywood got to a place where they thought they knew what to expect from me. I thought that maybe a few things would come to me. Well, they didn't. I said "fine" from now on I'm going to identify what's out there; I don't care if it's written for a blonde haired blue eyed guy. If they'll let me in the door, I'm going to take a shot at it and show people what I can do. I'd never done comedy. I'd rarely done romance. Courage Under Fire, The King And I and The Big Hit, all of this was an effort on my part to expand the perception of my range. The range has always been there.

Where Are They Now

(June 1996 - ?) Stars as the King on the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I

(November 2007) Starring as King Arthur in the national tour of Camelot.

(2004) Appeared in the infomercial, hosted by Kelly Packard and Billy Blanks, for "Billy's Boot Camp" fitness exercises.

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