Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Wheeler.
Hi Phillip, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started acting in High School. I was in a Computer Science class and the girl I had a crush on at the time asked me to audition for a show that she was doing with a local community theater. Nothing ever happened with the girl but I did get bit by the acting bug. I found that I could express myself in ways that I hadn’t been able to before. Then I did Three Musketeers and got to do big elaborate fight scenes and played Creon in Antigone that introduced me to the beauty of language and the power that it held. From there I started looking for opportunities to do it as often as possible. I did a season with the Leavenworth Summer Stock theater in Washington State. I did a number of low budget and student films with aspiring filmmakers. From there I auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and moved to Los Angeles. I found that conservatory setting suited what I wanted to achieve as an actor and gave the foundation that I had felt like I was missing. From there I continued educating myself with other classes and started auditioning for anything and everything. I did a large amount of non-union theater, film and TV in Los Angeles. Then I started to get a little restless about the insecurity of the profession and found a job raising awareness about various social, economic and political issues. This led to me learning a lot more about the way the world worked and why people do the things that they do. Returning to Washington I started doing more film projects with the people that I developed relationships with previously and found I was approaching the work differently because of my new found knowledge, The films I was in started winning awards and then I got nominated for an acting award for “The Junkie” a short horror film about heroin addiction. Then I met the love of my life in the Seattle Underground doing a live horror show and that brought more dimension to my life and therefore my work. We starred in a indie short together called “Exposure”. She started writing, producing and directing immersive theater shows and I found myself on that train. Since 2018 I have been in all of her immersive theater productions to date and it has been a thrilling ride. I booked a co-star on Magnum PI and joined SAG-AFTRA. Then did a short film called “Cozen” that I won 4 best actor awards for portraying a desperate father doing deplorable things to secure custody of his daughter. That brings us to today where I just hosted an event for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle as Hannibal Lecter, I’m about to open a immersive show about 1860’s Ireland called the Wake of Annie Grady and will be playing Scrooge in a Muppet Christmas Carol Burlesque show for the second time. Every show and role that I take on now I work to explore the human condition and reveal aspects of myself to tell a story for the audience but also to enhance my understanding of the human experience. Hopefully for the audience that gets to witness it walks away with a greater understanding of life too and sometimes of catharsis too. Especially in these trying times.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not a smooth road at all. In fact anything but a smooth ride. I think for me it has largely been finances that have held me back. It has become an increasingly difficult industry to navigate and seems to becoming more and more so. Not being able to has a strong nest egg and constantly needing to invest in the industry can be very difficult to balance. This can make building a network difficult. Because you can’t always afford to go out or pay to go to events to meet people. But you find a way to navigate the rocky waters one way or another. There is a lot of paywalls and barriers of entry in this industry that hinder actors getting ahead. They are expected to pay for a lot of subscriptions for casting sites. There does seem to be some discussion and momentum in SAG-AFTRA to confront some of these issues at the moment but it is likely to get harder before it gets better like anything else.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am very much a character actor. I tend toward playing people with checkered or troubled pasts and lead difficult lives. Criminals, Addicts, Corrupt Officials (Police, Politics), troublesome family members, Assassins, Mad Scientists, Killers and Creatures (Aliens, Monsters). I also do a fair amount of period pieces Westerns, Medieval stories (Fantasy) and 1800’s a lot! Right now I’m playing a very complex Irish revolutionary from the 1800’s in The Wake of Annie Grady. Balancing the Irish nature, history and accent are challenging on their own but also needing to go on a emotional rollercoaster throughout the show makes it one of, if not actually, the roles I am most proud pf and can’t wait for people to see it. I play Braddon Herron. I think what really sets me apart I have come to realize is an ability to integrate aspects of the character in to myself in ways that I have rarely seen done by other actors. I also find that large scale research on the character and the role greatly informs the performance and makes me uniquely able to improvise dramatically in screen and on stage. I am finding this more and more essential in the work I am doing. Sometimes just a willingness to explore darker characters and being willing to go down that rabbit hole and follow it were it may lead has set me apart in many instances. Striking the balance with the humanity of the character is really important to me. Humanizing characters can be very difficult in certain circumstances and getting out of your own way enough to find the humanity in the worst people out there. That definitely sets me apart.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I have always been curious and creative. Making up stories, roleplaying, acting out characters in movies and tv shows. I like learning to do new things and am pretty good at picking up new skills very quickly. I always wanted to be doing something, I was never happy sitting still or being told what or how to do things.
I feel in love with science fiction and particularly Star Trek when I was about 6 years old. Despite the kinds of roles I tend to play now I still to this day feel inspired by and drawn to a world where everyone has what they need whether it be food, water, shelter or a sense of purpose and that it was available to them equally and without question.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.phillipjwheeler.com
- Instagram: @phillipjwheeler
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillip.j.wheeler
- Other: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/phillipjwheeler
Image Credits
David Zaugh on the personal photograph
