1 of 5 | Lou Diamond Phillips stars in “Gangland,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Saban Films
Lou Diamond Phillips said his latest movie, Gangland, in theaters Friday, follows a career of movies that made a social impact.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Phillips, 64, said he still meets people who were inspired by his earliest movies La Bamba, in which he played singer Ritchie Valens, and Stand and Deliver, in which he played a student of Jaime Escalante.
“It’s always so gratifying when somebody comes up to me and goes, ‘I’m a teacher because of Stand and Deliver,'” Phillips said. “That’s such a beautiful reminder that our art can indeed affect society and the world at large.”
Gangland is a gritty drama about the tribal police that continues a tradition of Native American representation. Teddy (Phillips) is training a rookie (Dana Namerode).
The actor has also played Native American characters in Young Guns, Renegades and The Dark Wind, as Jim Chee based on the same novels as AMC’s Dark Winds. Phillips is half Filipino with Cherokee heritage on his father’s side.
Phillips said each time he plays a Latino or Native character, he represents a specific community down to the specific tribe. Gangland is set in the fictional Thunderstone community.
“Jim is much more spiritual, much more connected to the culture, much more I think quiet and nonassuming, whereas Teddy is a drill instructor,” Phillips said of his two tribal police roles. “He’s brash, he’s boisterous, He can be overpowering.”
In the past, Phillips said, Hollywood would often cast him as if he were the only actor of color available. The late Gregory Peck once told Phillips he was following in Anthony Quinn’s footsteps.
“I will take that torch from Anthony Quinn and continue on because he was [playing] Latino and Native and Greek, Inuit as well,” Phillips said. “There was a time when that responsibility fell on the shoulders of people like me and Anthony Quinn.”
It pleases Phillips that there are more Native actors getting roles today, including many in the cast of Gangland.
“One of the things I’m very proud of with Gangland is that we’ve got a lot of young native actors who are getting their biggest roles to date,” Phillips said. “Some of them have never even had dialogue before and they just knock it out of the park.”
Gangland was an independent film shot in 18 days, 15 of which Phillips worked. He credited director Vincent Gradshaw with keeping the film on schedule.
“Most of what you see in the movie is two or three takes tops,” Phillips said. “You had to be there to play. There was no time to waste.”
Phillips revisited La Bamba again for the documentary American Pachucho: The Legend of Luis Valdez. The documentary tells the story of the La Bamba’s director’s evolution from a farmworker to director.
“You see my audition tapes from when I was 24 years old and a lot of behind-the-scenes footage,” Phillips said. “If it were to come out now, it would be Oscar nominated in a number of categories. Then, we didn’t have the groundswell.”
Fans also mention the 1998 action-comedy The Big Hit to Phillips, he said.
“It’s just off the wall and it’s one of my favorite performances,” Phillips said. “A lot of times if comedy comes at me, I say yes without even reading the script. I just love performing comedy.”
In The Big Hit, a drunk Elliott Gould throws up on Phillips’ villainous hit man.
“I told Elliott, I said, ‘You know, I made it. I made it in Hollywood now. Elliott Gould has thrown up on me,'” Phillips recalled.
He will return in the HBO comedy The Chair Company Season 2 playing Tim Robinson’s boss at an architecture film. Phillips does not know what to expect.
“I have no idea where this is going,” he said. “They kind of keep you on your toes. You have to be able to pivot. You have to be fluid with it. It is one of the most unique experiences filming that I ever had but I’m having a blast doing it.”
