1980s Phillips's big break came with the starring role in
La Bamba (1987) in which he played early rocker
Ritchie Valens. Prior to his cinematic breakthrough, he starred in the
Miami Vice episode "Red Tape" (March 13, 1987), portraying detective Bobby Diaz. In 1988, Phillips co-starred with
Edward James Olmos in the inner-city high school drama
Stand and Deliver, in a role for which he won the
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He plays Angel David Guzman, a
cholo gangster who is inspired by his math teacher,
Jaime Escalante, to excel at
calculus. Working to master the subject, he develops a friendship with his teacher.
Stand and Deliver was filmed before
La Bamba, but it was released a year later. " was released In 1988 Phillips co-starred with
Emilio Estevez and
Kiefer Sutherland in the
Western film Young Guns, in which he plays
José Chávez y Chávez, a historical
Old West outlaw.
1990s In 1990, Phillips revisited the role of José Chávez y Chávez in
Young Guns II. He suffered a severe injury during the filming. Gunshots spooked the horse he was riding, resulting in Phillips being bucked off and dragged for 100 feet as his leg was caught in a
stirrup. Phillips was emergency airlifted via helicopter to have surgery to repair his right arm which was broken in four places. In the mid-1990s, Phillips was a vocalist with the Los Angeles-based rock group The Pipefitters. In 1993, Phillips was among the guests on the
Randy Travis television special Wind in the Wire. In 1996, Phillips made his
Broadway debut as the King in
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II's
The King and I. Phillips won a
Theatre World Award, and was nominated for both a
Tony Award and a
Drama Desk Award for his performance. In 1998, he starred as Cisco, the counterpart of the main character Melvin Smiley (played by
Mark Wahlberg) in the comedy-action film
The Big Hit.
2000s Phillips later had a minor role in the TV sitcom
George Lopez (2002–2004) as George Lopez's half-brother. He also played a role in the first season of the TV series
24 as secret government agent Mark DeSalvo, opposite former
Young Guns star
Kiefer Sutherland. In 2003, he starred in a cameo role with
Harrison Ford and
Josh Hartnett in the action-comedy film
Hollywood Homicide. Phillips played the recurring role of FBI agent
Ian Edgerton in the television series
Numbers. Edgerton is an FBI tracker and sniper who works as an instructor at
Quantico FBI Academy when he is not working a case in the field. Phillips won the
second season of the
NBC reality series, ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', over pro wrestler
Torrie Wilson. On September 11, 2007, Phillips joined the touring troupe for
Lerner and Loewe's
Camelot in the role of
King Arthur. Phillips had a recurring role as Colonel Telford in the
Stargate Universe television series during its two-season run on the
Syfy channel 2009–2011. He played the would-be commander of the
Destiny expedition, who is left behind when an accident launches an unsuspecting crew into deep space. The commander works from Earth to bring the crew home, often coming into conflict with the shipborne command characters.
2010s Phillips hosted the weekly series
An Officer and a Movie (2011–2013) on
American Heroes Channel. This series features various theatrical World War II dramas, with discussion breaks during the film in which Phillips interviews members of the US military and intelligence communities about details of the events that inspired each film. In January 2012, he was one of eight celebrities participating in the
Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. On January 29, 2012, he was announced as the winner with a
Zagat score of 28 out of 30, thereby winning $50,000 for his charity. In June 2012, Phillips began co-starring in the television series
Longmire, about a modern-day sheriff in Wyoming, played by
Robert Taylor. Phillips played Henry Standing Bear, a Native American, who is a longtime friend of Longmire and has a saloon/restaurant. He often helps the sheriff with cases and in dealing with the Cheyenne reservation police. They do not respect or like non-natives, especially local, state or federal law enforcement with competing authority. The series ran for six seasons to 2017. In December 2012, Phillips was featured in
Imagine Dragons' music video for "
Radioactive", which exceeded 1 billion views on
YouTube.'' at the 2013 Miami International Film Festival In February 2013, Phillips appeared as star of the comedy short film
Lucy in the Sky with Diamond, playing a version of himself known as the elusive and mysterious LDP—a renegade, spirit guide, and life coach who attempts to help John (John Patrick Jordan) get over a particularly disconcerting ex-girlfriend. The award-winning short was written and directed by Joey Boukadakis. In July 2014, he replaced the injured
Jason Scott Lee in
Opera Australia's Melbourne production of
The King and I, reprising his role as the King of Siam, playing opposite
Lisa McCune as
Anna Leonowens. In 2015, he guest-starred in
The Wiggles Rock and Roll PreSchool DVD and made guest appearances on their TV program on ABC. In 2016, Phillips portrayed serial killer
Richard Ramirez in
The Night Stalker.
2020s In 2023, Phillips competed in
season nine of
The Masked Singer as "Mantis". After being spared by
Robin Thicke ringing the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell on "WB Movie Night", he was eliminated during the "Battle of the Saved" alongside
Keenan Allen as "Gargoyle". Phillips also mentioned that he did the competition for his daughter Indigo and her friend Fluffy. That same year, he starred opposite
Malcolm McDowell in the independently-produced comedy thriller film
Et Tu.
Radio Phillips voiced four episodes of the radio series
The Twilight Zone: Vol. 1, "
A Kind of a Stopwatch"; Vol. 3, "
The Parallel; Vol. 10, "
Miniature"; and Vol. 12, "
Long Live Walter Jameson".
Writing Phillips co-wrote the screenplay for
Trespasses and
Dangerous Touch, and wrote the feature
Ambition (both of which he also starred in). In 2019, Aethon Books announced that it would be publishing Phillips's
debut novel,
Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira, a science fiction retelling of the
Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name. It was illustrated by his wife, Yvonne Boismier. ==Personal life==