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Lou Diamond Philips - Hollywood Movie Star

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Profile: Lou Diamond Phillips was born 17th February 1962 in the Philippines. Filipino, Hawaiian, Japanese, Spanish, Scotch Irish, and eighth Cherokee Indian origins gave him his unusual good looks and brought him main leads in movies. Named after the World War 2 hero Leland 'Lou' Diamond, he seemed destined for stardom right from the beginning. As a child he lived with his family in many American States before finally settling in Corpus Christi, Texas. Becoming interested in acting, he studied drama and film technique at the University of Texas in Arlington. It was there that he worked as an assistant
director and instructor at the film actors lab throughout 1983 to 1986. He was soon starring in low budget films, his first being Trespasses which he co - scripted. It was during the making of this film that he met his future wife Julie Cypher, an assistant director. She went on to work behind the scenes on his films La Bamba, Stand and Deliver, Dakota, and Young Guns. A role in the# NBC Tv movie Time Bomb soon followed. Lou appeared in a small role as a member of a terrorist gang with Morgan Fairchild as the leader. He also made guest appearances on long running tv show's Dallas, and Miami Vice.

In 1987 his big break came in La Bamba, the true but tragic story of Rock and Roll star Ritchie Valens. Originally auditioning for the role of Bob, Ritchie's half brother, Lou impressed the producers so much that they chose him from 500 other young hopefuls to play the lead role of Ritchie Valens. Finally La Bamba was a film Lou could call his own, and he now was a star. Before La Bamba opened Lou starred in the Tv movie The Three Kings as a mental patient, and had a supporting role opposite Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver as Angel a troubled gang member who is shown the error of his ways by a tough caring teacher.

Lou was recommend to audition for the role of Angel by the films star and co-producer Edward James Olmos, who he had
previously worked with on Miami Vice. In 1989 he was Nominated for the Golden Globe award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture by an actor and received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting male for his role as Angel in Stand and Deliver. After two big productions he decided to return to his home town Texas where he went on to star in Dakota a old fashioned romantic drama set on a ranch. Lou not only starred in Dakota, but was also associate producer.

During filming he married Julie Cypher on set, with the assistant director standing in as Justice of the Peace. Lou described his wedding at the time, "a very sweet, very romantic sort of thing". Sadly in 1990 this was to end in divorce, with Julie leaving Lou for the singer Melissa Etheridge who was a close friend of them both.

After his recent success in films, he was now considered a big enough star to join the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevaz in the blockbuster Young Guns which followed the adventures of Billy the kid and his regulators. Lou portrayed Chavez Y Chavez, a mexican indian, who he described as "a killer, a savage and at the same time very mystical, the quiet one." Next up Lou joined Ed O' Neill as a inept bank robber in the comedy Disorganized Crime. The film wasn't really a commercial hit, but still managed to be entertaining enough.

Teaming up again with Kiefer Sutherland, who were by this time friends, in Renegades. Lou starred as Hank, a Indian who joins forces with a cop (Sutherland) to avenge his brothers death. Both actors concerned gave fine convincing performances and the film was a minor hit. The First Power saw Lou tracking down a supernatural serial killer, although the film received bad reviews they were not justified and the film deserved to be a far bigger hit than it actually was. In A Show Of Force he played a drug lord in the slow political drama.

1990 saw him team up yet again with Kiefer Sutherland and the gang in the smash hit Young Guns 2 - Blaze of Glory, which was to be his last commercial success for some time. In Ambition he portrayed a young man so desperate for success he is even willing to kill in order to get what he wants. Again he co-scripted this movie. Lou later admitted this film was nothing like he originally envisioned it to be, and in his opinion was a disaster. Robert Redford was executive producer on his next movie The Dark Wind about a indian cop in to deep in corruption, witchcraft and murder. The making of the movie became a very troubled shoot when Hopi Indian religious leaders thought the way their ancient rites were depicted in the script were sacrilegious and other Native American groups protested the movie because Lou is not a full-blooded Indian.

Shadow Of The Wolf, Lou's next movie, was reportedly the most expensive Canadian movie ever to be made. Based on the novel "Agaguk" by Yves Theriault. It was then announced that he was to be the star of Touch, starring alongside Natasha Richardson and Sherylin Fenn, but this film never materialized. In 1994 came the superior cop thriller S.I.S. Extreme Justice, and was followed by a smaller role in Teresa's Tattoo, and the tv movie Override.

With Dangerous Touch, a erotic thriller also starring Kate Vernon, Lou had total control, not only did he star and write the movie, but it also marked his directoral debut. Following Dangerous Touch came Sioux City, a movie which was very personal to Lou. Starring and directing the movie, it also featured appearances from friends Adam Roarke, and a fellow Pipefitters band member. Lou and the Pipefitters also provided the films soundtrack. A friend to The Pipefitters band since his pre-movie stardom days in Texas, Lou has also been known to tour over the years with the band combining a powerful flair for lyric writing and singing.

In 1993 he was romantically involved with Jennifer Tilly his co-star of Shadow Of The Wolf. They were later engaged, but
unfortunately this was not meant to be. In 1994's Boulevard, Lou co-starred with Kari Wuhrer in a story of a young woman escaping from an abusive husband. Lou played a manipulative pimp Hassan who tries to force Kari's character into prostitution. The same year he married model Kelly Preston who he met whilst playing Pool at the Hollywood Athletic Club.

1996 turned out to be a great year for Lou with him having two major successes. With the broadway production of The King and I reprising the role made famous by Yul Brynner which raised more than a few eyebrows when it was announced who was to be the star of the show. Courage Under Fire saw Lou starring with Meg Ryan and Denzil Washington as a corrupt tough soldier. Which won him a award for best supporting actor.

In 1998 Lou starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in the big action/comedy movie The Big Hit as part of a gang of hired hitmen which was directed by Hong Kong Director Kirk Wong. This film gave Lou the chance to show exactly what he is made of with a hilarious turn as the gold toothed Cisco.

He also became a parent for the first time when his wife Kelly gave birth to twin girls Isabella Patricia and Grace Moorea. Kelly liked Lou's look in The Big Hit so much that she wanted him to appear that way in the delivery room when the twins were born. He told her he didn't think he could get past security like that!

Next up was the sci fi movie Supernova which proved to be a troubled shoot including changing director three times during filming. The movie also starring Angela Basset and James Spader was finally released in January 2000.

1999 was a extremely busy year for Lou with the birth of his daughter Lilli Jordon, and the release of his new movies Brokedown Palace, the tv movie In A Class Of Their Own, and the special effects horror movie Bats which is in the same vein as Hitchcock's Birds. He teamed up with Kiefer Sutherland in 2000 in the bizarre Picking Up The Pieces in which he had a very small cameo role as a police officer. Lou then starred in the action movie A Better Way To Die and the psychological thriller Hangman alongside Madchem Amick. In 2001, Lou was given his own tv show by CBS, Wolf Lake. Before it was even broadcast, Wolf Lake was subject to several changes and was finally aired with a completely new cast and story from it's original idea. Subsequently, the series was cancelled before finishing a full season. During Lou's time on Wolf Lake, he took time out to film a cameo appearance in friend Kiefer Sutherland's hit series 24.

Lou's most recent roles have included Malevolent, which also starred his former Boulevard co-star Kari Wurher, a very brief scene in Hollywood Homicide, and the TBS tv movie Red Water. As well as a very busy acting career, Lou is also actively involved in many charities and is often spotted at various charity events.