Lou Diamond Phillips, film, television and Broadway actor, first rose to fame in 1987 with his performance as musician Ritchie Valens in the film “La Bamba.” His wide range of work includes such films as “Courage Under Fire,” co-starring Denzel Washington and Matt Damon and “Young Guns,” acting alongside Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland.
In 1996, he starred in the award-winning Broadway musical “The King and I” and received a Tony Award nomination for his lead performance. His latest venture as King Arthur in the musical “Camelot” brought him to Royce Hall this month. Telling the tale of King Arthur and his Round Table, Guinevere and Lancelot, “Camelot” was written by the American musical team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, best known for their collaboration on “My Fair Lady.”
Phillips took time from rehearsals of music and medieval jousting to talk with the Daily Bruin’s Jenae Cohn about his role in the musical, which will next headline at the San Diego Civic Theatre on Sept. 25.
Daily Bruin: You’ve played such a variety of characters, what drew you to the role of King Arthur?
Lou Diamond Phillips: It’s such an amazing role. Rereading it and revisiting it, you forget how classic it is. You remember the pretty songs, and you’re familiar enough with the story, but when you actually go back and read the text, it’s so smart. Shows like this are our Shakespeare, they’re our American classics. It’s great to draw them back out and introduce them to a new generation.
DB: What makes the play relevant to a new generation?
LDP: It really is an antiwar statement. King Arthur is a man who’s torn because he wants peace. He creates the Round Table to civilize his knights and to bring an end to war for his people. He’s trying to make the world a better place.
DB: A number of people have played the role of King Arthur, including Richard Burton and Richard Harris. How does it feel for you to take on such a prestigious role?
LDP: (It) is a lot of fun. I think I may be one of the first non-English people to play it. I’m doing something so wildly different from “La Bamba” or even “The King and I” or any of the other roles I’m more known for.
DB: And throughout your career, you’ve played a number of different ethnicities.
LDP: Yes, and now I’m the King of England! The funny thing is, I’m so mixed ethnically, if I just waited around to play a Filipino-Irish person, I’d never work. Fortunately for me, I’ve had the honor of representing a lot of distinct communities, a lot of Native American nations, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Inuits even in the far north. I’ve bounced around the cultural globe a bit.
DB: You’ve bounced all over the entertainment industry too, in film, theater and television. Do you prefer one medium over another?
LDP: I really don’t. I love it all; I really do. There are really different challenges to each of the different venues. A number of really great theater actors have been able to do film and television, but not every person who does film and television is capable of going on stage. A lot of people who act extremely well in close-up, can’t play to a 2000-seat house. There are just certain muscles you use that have to be developed over a number of years. It’s getting back to using those muscles, using that projection, using that presence, acting from the top of your head to the tip of your toes and creating a full character. That’s the real challenge of theater.
DB: You attended college as a theater major (at the University of Texas at Arlington). So what advice would you give other aspiring theater students here at UCLA?
LDP: To do it. Whether it’s writing, acting, directing, dancing, I always take them as action verbs. You don’t sit around and talk about them, you don’t study them, you do them. My experience was, you surround yourself with people of like mind and like heart and you network that way. You make your films, you put on your theater productions, and the more you do it, the more you’ll legitimize as an actor. A lot of people think that people’s careers are these big strategized game plans. The truth of the matter is that actors are gypsies where we take it when we can. A lot of the time, the opportunities just come out of left field, and you just roll with it.
DB: So what sort of opportunities do you hope to roll with after touring with “Camelot”? Do you see yourself continuing the “gyspy life” of an actor or do you see yourself branching off from acting in the future?
LDP: I love directing, I love writing. I have a screenplay that’s making its way around that I may end up directing next summer. I definitely want to continue pursuing acting and pursuing bigger films, but I also can hopefully get behind the camera and direct some small projects.
DB: You have played so many different characters throughout your career ““ do you have a favorite?
LDP: There’s a bunch that I love. … It’s just like girlfriends; you can fall in love with them for different reasons. Obviously, “La Bamba” is my Cinderella story, but as far as acting goes, I’m extremely proud of my work in “Stand and Deliver” and “Courage Under Fire.” The work in “The King and I” and the Tony nomination (I received) meant a lot to me. I did it for 15 months for 500 performances, so obviously I loved something about it. And I’ve never had more fun than I did when I was filming “Young Guns” and working with guys like Kiefer and Emilio.
DB: You’re still friends with a lot of stars you’ve worked with in the past, like Kiefer Sutherland and Emilio Estevez from “Young Guns.” Do you guys view acting differently now than you used to?
LDP: We’re all still hacking away at it and looking at it as a career and not just this flash-in-the-pan kind of thing. … Fortunately, for all of us, we’re working a lot more. … It’s nice to still be able to do it and do work that challenges us and is different. We’re all going in the same direction, but we all differ a little bit.
E-mail Jenae Cohn at jcohn@media.ucla.edu.