Source: Greenwitch Citizen

Going coastal

Actor Jonathan Phillips heads west in search of dream roles

By Anne W. Semmes

Updated: 07/31/2009

Jonathan Phillips is an actor passionate about his craft. A Cos Cob native, he comes from a family of actors. His mother Florence Phillips acts, as did his aunt, Madelyn O'Neil. Another aunt, Barbara O'Neil, played the mother of Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." Jonathan is tall (6'2"), dark, handsome, -- and educated: Brunswick School, Andover, University of Michigan and The Moscow Art Theater School.

For the last few years he's been working in New York theater - off off-Broadway, and landed the odd TV role, "The Mentalist," "Law & Order" and "Damages" with Glenn Close. But this week, Jonathan is headed for film land - L.A. Before he left, we asked him a few leading questions about his quest and the challenges confronting actors these days.

Why move to L.A. - when you have inroads in New York City?

I wanted a change of scene, and to get to know LA and the casting directors. I have a lot of friends out there. One is a screenwriter who has producers developing some of his screenplays.

What will you do first when you get there?

Dust off my apartment and take a good long walk in my neighborhood. It's in Los Feliz. It's a lot like Brooklyn, where I live in New York. I found it in March when I was working in the TV show "The Mentalist." I sublet it after I got work in New York on "One Life To Live," a soap on ABC. We've shot one episode. We're shooting another on Tuesday.

What part are you playing in "One Life to Live"?

I'm playing a Russian mobster. I spoke Russian in my audition. I still speak it fluently, as I studied it for years and years, first at Andover and then at U. of Michigan.

I note you have a Blackberry. Is this now an actor's tool of trade?

Most actors need to access e-mail constantly now, to stay in touch... so an iPhone, or Blackberry, or whatever, has become an essential tool. If you're casting somewhere in London or L.A. and you happen to be in New York, you can send an audition on camera. You can download a file to your computer and zap it back and forth. You don't even have to send a video. You can do it online. For actors, you can actually work wherever you are.

How long do you plan to stay in L.A.?

A year, anyway, to go through one full work cycle.

Has anyone influenced you to go to L.A.?

I've met two wonderful managers. There are agents and there are managers. Managers now do what talent agents used to do. Talent agents now mostly deal with contracts. I really like these guys.

Do you plan to take a class in L.A.?

I'll be going to class. It's a good way to meet people.

Will you have to do a day job to live?

I've heard this line - "I'm an actor. Oh really? What restaurant do you work in?" A lot of actors can make a living in L.A., while all the actors I know in NYC have to have second jobs. In L.A., they do a little modeling, commercial work, enough work for an actor without getting a day job.

What does it take to break into Hollywood?

I always tell my friends, "Keep your fingers crossed but don't hold your breath!" You need a lot of luck. I'd rather be lucky than talented, as the saying goes. You make your own luck. You have to work hard and have a focus. Most actors I know that are any good live like monks.

What opportunities do you think you'll find there that were not in NYC?

I see myself working in film and TV "legit" roles. So far, I've not had a lot of luck in commercial roles. I see myself as happiest and most successful in films and indie films; TV, as well. More than some people, I actually fluctuate between leading man and character goofball roles. I'm equally delighted to do both -- a tall guy with a deep voice.

Have you been encouraged or discouraged by your opportunities in New York City?

Both. I've been very happy in New York. But, every once in a while, you hit a glass ceiling and find it hard to get a job you have in mind. Sometimes you feel you can't get over that hurdle on your own.

Who have you studied with, and who had the most powerful teaching technique?

June Stein -- she's a wonderful actor and teacher on the film school faculty at Columbia University, and Kay Patten --she's a teacher/coach who runs a coaching studio.

Do you have a technique or a method?

I do have a technique. I went straight to the source of the Stanislavsky method in Moscow.

I studied with Russian professors, some of whom knew Stanislavsky. Theater has changed in Moscow since his time. Commercial theater has taken the place of repertoire theater.

Are there any mentors who've guided you?

My first Russian professor started me back onto the (actor) path, and my mom. I was always doing plays with her in the Cos Cob School when she taught my class Greek myths, or whatever.

Have you been influenced by your family of actors to be an actor?

It's always been a given that theater is worthwhile and a great thing to be doing. It requires a lot more courage to get into it.

What theatrical performance has given you the most confidence?

Confidence is a good word. Playing Dracula in a "glamrock" David Bowie-esque Dracula story. When you have to play the Prince of Darkness, the most intimidating character in the show, you're going to end up with a lot of confidence.

What do you feel you still have to learn?

I still have a lot to learn about doing less in film and TV acting, that it's all going on inside, that the camera can pick that up. Working with people in film and TV is a whole different set of skills ­-- that's why you're so excited to go out there (to L.A.). Filmmaking is so totally organic, so different from producing theater.

Do you belong to an actor's union?

I belong to two unions-- SAG and Equity, and may have to join AFTRA for working in a soap opera.

How do you deal with the constant rejection?

A sense of humor is a muscle you really have to exercise. You get pretty good at laughing at yourself. You get past the first two years and you get to realize you are an actor. It's a calling you're stuck with.

Whose directing work do you admire?

Paul Greengrass. ("Bloody Sunday," Matt Damon spy movies, "United Flight 93.") He's the top-of-the-list guy I'd like to work with, his Indie style. I auditioned for him. He likes his filmmaking to be "unconsidered," happening before your eyes.

What actors inspire you the most?

Cate Blanchett and Daniel Day Lewis. Joan Allen is a class act, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, because he uses his film career to fund his NYC theater company and produce new plays.

What is the dark side of the creative life? Why do so many talented actors succumb to addiction and meltdown? How do you keep yourself centered?

I tend to think of addiction and meltdown as a personality issue, that it's individual, not career related. Actors are incredibly centered as they spend so much time on being introspective and deeply studying what it means to be deeply human. My Russian professor said the reason we want to be actors is there will never be anything more fascinating than to study the human being. That's what we do. We study what it means to be people.

With your education, Brunswick School, University of Michigan, you could do a lot of things. What keeps you in the acting groove?

It is no more and no less absorbing to have an interest in affecting human beings and contributing to the world as an actor as it would be working for the United Nations or the Foreign Service. I don't doubt I could be an excellent lawyer or diplomat but I have an idea of my own individual creative power and instincts. A family therapist friend of my mom's said it best. When the person is happy doing the details of their work, then they're happy in their chosen profession.

What does it feel like when you know you're performing well?

It reminds me of rowing. When you're rowing well, you have a sense of weightlessness, you've achieved perfect balance. The boat has momentum and there's a kind of stillness and resilience, even though you're pulling with this power in a boat of eight guys. You're in this zone and everyone stops and holds their paddles in the air and you can glide and hear the air bubbles rushing under the hull of the boat. It's a perfect sound that you're doing it just right. You have that same balance and elegance if you're doing it right on the stage.