Please introduce yourself. What do you do? Why? What do you want people to know about you?
I am an actor/writer/creator who just did a major 180 from working in the field of lighting design and construction into the amazing world of film.
I have been a filmmaker/actor/writer at heart for most of my life but the pandemic helped, actually more like forced but we’ll get into that next, me realize that it was time to actually “Go for it!”. I uprooted my life in Chicago and drove to LA in late 2020 and have already joined SAG-AFTRA, landed a role in the new Jonah Hill feature, and stood in for multiple major actors such as Steve Zahn.
Sky, here comes Ian Sargent Phillips!
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
Well, I’m no talking hamster but apparently, I’m nice and I guess that is a rarity in this city.
Maybe it’s the Midwestern boy in me but for whatever reason, everyone keeps telling me not to let this town jade me. I shall do my best.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you’re doing what you were born to do.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with movies.
My parents tell me they knew I would go into film before I did. I guess I would just watch them, I’d pick them apart and learn how they did it, and then try to duplicate it with a very very very low budget. Jump forward to age 7, a film called Dumb and Dumber was released in theaters, you may have heard of it, and I knew then that I wanted to write comedy. That jokes could be multidimensional and just how much joy they could bring to people.
Jump way ahead to 2021, landing my first legitimate acting gig in a major motion picture, acting in the same scene as Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and David Duchovny; holding my own against the greats, I realized at that moment that I was there, that I was officially doing what I was born to do.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to go through and how did you grow through it?
Life is not without challenges. You can’t really appreciate the good’s without the bad’s.
I’ve had many challenges throughout my life and I’m sure this has become many people’s big challenge but when the pandemic hit, it hit hard. I lost a business I had spent close to a decade creating, I lost the momentum I had gained in the film industry where I lived, I lost my home. I was staring down the barrel of homelessness and insane debt and took a crazy leap of faith.
To leave it all behind and move to one of the most expensive cities in America. Crazy, right?! Well, it doesn’t stop there. The person, a now ex-uncle, who took me in when I got to LA, immediately started taking advantage of me and my kindness, stealing money from me, and ultimately getting me entangled in some pretty sketchy things he was involved with. I’ll be honest, my first year in Los Angeles was not pretty, but in the midst of it all, somehow I managed to endure and manifest what I’ve wanted my life to be.
I’m happy to say, I am no longer homeless and I’m feeling pretty good about the direction I’m headed in.
Who are the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could elevate your career or business? Why these specific individuals?
Kevin Feige. I’ve had a dream for a very long time of portraying a more comic-accurate Wolverine on the big screen, one of the only comics I related to and got me through middle school. Obviously, Mr. Feige would be a person who could make that happen.
Jim Carrey. He is not only an amazing actor and a very insightful human but also one of the reasons I went into comedy. I feel like he’s someone I could really learn from.
Adam Sandler. He’s a comedian, he’s a director, he’s a producer, he’s one silly son-of-a-bitch. What he has done with his career is actually quite impressive. He didn’t just become a “rich actor”, he took that wealth and turned it into a production company, and a successful one at that. He’s created jobs and content. Again, someone who I feel I could learn a lot from. And who knows, maybe produce my next comedy.
Drop your social media links.
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@iamgnome
- Facebook: Ian Sargent Phillips
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2M2lm0n5X-JG4Nc81ZRCnQ
- IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm3635265?s=48bf04a5-af93-517f-f05c-d84bf47a991a&site_preference=normal