Lou Diamond Phillips Defends Playing Non-Filipino Characters of Color: “I Am Not Looking to Exploit That Role”
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I never knew he was Filipino.
sharehe plays so many native american characters.
shareI didn't think he was native, or at least not fully native, but I really had no idea what he was. I never bothered to find out. I recently rewatched The First Power. Not a great movie but I was reminded that at one point I did have a crush on him. 😊
shareI have always assumed he was of some Latin background, while Filipino would be some kind of Polynesian, unless I'm wrong. And a stereotype of Filipino is a person not terribly tall, so he's not your average islander.
Always have liked him, btw. I was glad he was in Longmire, although I never have had the chance to view the whole series properly.
Phillips' father was of Scottish, Irish, and Cherokee heritage, and his mother was part-Filipino, part-Hawaiian, part-Chinese, and part-Spanish.
https://www.nndb.com/people/590/000025515/
There's a certain "shorthand" among Filipinos. Most first come to the U.S. by way of Hawaii, but they have no Hawaiian indigenous blood. And The Philippines was owned by Spain but few Filipinos have Spanish blood. There are many Chinese immigrants in Hawaii. Shorthand: His mother was Chinese Filipino.
Like most Americans his father probably claimed his great great grandmother was a Cherokee princess. Shorthand: His father was white. Phillips' father was not an American Indian. share
That is an interesting ethnic mixture. He was in" Easter Sunday", which was about a Filipino -American family. I think Vanessa Hudgen's dad is White and Native American as well.
shareNot really. It is complicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos
shareFrom my point of view, he is Native American. He is part Cherokee and looks fully native. Also like you said, he has played so many Native American Characters that anyone who remembers him at his peak associates him with being Native American
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