Photo Source: Kristiina Wilson
Phillips says that growing up, he was a computer kid like his character. His family would go to "Graham's cord graveyard" in his closet any time it needed a computer cord. But "The Good Wife" isn't the first time Phillips' computer skills have come in handy for his acting career. Phillips remembers that when he was about 8, he Googled "How to do more acting." One day, after about six months of pestering his parents about getting him an agent, they found him Googling "agents for kids" and gave in.
As a child, Phillips would go around the house singing, so his mom put him in lessons, and he soon realized it was a passion; he continues with vocal coaches on both coasts. His performing career began with his love for singing and segued naturally into appearing in local musical theater. Armed with an agent in New York, Phillips was cast as Tiny Tim in a production of "A Christmas Carol" at the Madison Square Garden Theater. This was his first time performing for a large audience, and he says the experience was exciting and hooked him on the thrill of theater. He continued working in New York and L.A., doing a couple operas in New York and several television guest roles in L.A. before landing the series regular role as Zach.
For Phillips, the audition process for "The Good Wife" was relatively quick. He auditioned with the casting directors, and then again with the creators and producers, and was offered the role. The difficult part was deciding whether to take it. "I just wanted to make sure it was something I could be comfortable with accepting," he says. "It's a role I could plausibly be doing until almost halfway through college."
Ultimately, he accepted the part and is savoring the experience. Phillips says he has a lot in common with Zach. "It's interesting to see him going through a lot of the things that I've been going through, just a year behind me," he says. "It's nice to have writers who really grasp the teenage dynamic. That drew me to the show. It seems like they really nail every single aspect of a teenager's struggles without it being too obvious that that's what they are trying to do. They concentrate more on how their struggles affect the family dynamic."
Phillips says he's still discovering things about his character: "With film, you read the whole script three or four times, and you really have a solid blueprint of who your character is. Whereas in television, that blueprint is constantly changing and adapting, and sometimes you have to take a risk," he notes. Phillips feels it's necessary to provide options for interpreting a scene, since he doesn't always know what his character knows at that point in it. He notes that in one scene in a recent episode of "The Good Wife," Will (Josh Charles), Alicia's lover, tries to buddy up to Zach. Phillips wasn't sure what Zach knew about Will and Alicia's relationship at that point, so he played the scene a couple different ways, and the producers and editors ended up going with a colder take. Phillips says he was surprised, because he didn't think Zach was aware of their relationship. "It's really fun to watch your character adapt, and it really keeps you on your toes when you finally get to see the episode," he says.
Phillips has had a busy year. In addition to "The Good Wife," he shot the indie feature "Goats," which will premiere Jan. 24 at the Sundance Film Festival. The film follows Phillips' character, Ellis, as he leaves behind his mother and the man who has been like a dad to him in order to find his biological father. Phillips says, "The script spoke to me in a way that really no other script had. On a basic level, I never found a script for someone my age that I could sink my teeth into as much as I could in this, but beyond that, the story just really touched me because it's just a beautiful coming-of-age story." Phillips read the book the film is based on prior to his first audition and related to a lot of the character's life transitions.
After being cast, he worked with an acting coach during the eight months before shooting began, which opened his eyes to the technical work of acting. One trick Phillips used while filming was to write himself note cards to help him understand where his character was emotionally in each scene, since they were shot out of order. "You can't reread the script before every scene," says Phillips. "So … really the work that went into it was one of my favorite experiences," he notes.
His work on "The Good Wife" provided a good foundation, preparing Phillips for the fast pace of filming on "Goats." Unlike most movies, which shoot about two pages a day, "Goats" shot more like eight—a typical schedule for "The Good Wife." The producers also worked with Phillips' schedule so he would be able to shoot his first leading role in a film while continuing his TV commitment. It was a challenging situation, shooting on Mondays and Tuesdays in Brooklyn and then taking the red eye to Albuquerque or Tucson for the film. "It gave me a taste of what kind of challenges I'd be facing when I'm older," he says. "And the fact that I love it just as much solidified my assumption that this could be what I want to do for the rest of my life."
