Graham Phillips (actor)

Graham David Phillips (born April 14, 1993) is an American actor and singer. Beginning his acting career at the age of nine, Phillips is known for a variety of film, stage and television roles; as Jordan Baxter in the Universal Pictures feature film Evan Almighty, as Evan Goldman in the Broadway musical 13, as Ben Tennyson in Ben 10: Race Against Time, as Zach Florrick on the CBS television series The Good Wife, and as Ethan Shaw in the Netflix Original XOXO.

Personal life

Phillips was born in Laguna Beach, California. He is the son of Kathryn (née Hale), an attorney, and Layn R. Phillips, an attorney and former U.S. district court judge.^[1] His parents are from Oklahoma.^[2] He was raised Episcopalian, and during his K-12 school years, attended St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California.^[3] He entered Princeton University in the fall of 2012, majoring in history.

Career

Stage

Phillips starred as Evan Goldman in the musical comedy 13 on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre which opened October 5, 2008 and closed January 4, 2009. It was directed by Jeremy Sams, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, and its music and lyrics were by Jason Robert Brown and book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn.

Prior to his role in 13, Phillips played the title role in The Little Prince with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center. The New York Times critic called Phillips' performance in the title role "smashing."^[4] From there Phillips went directly into the world premiere of "An American Tragedy" at the Metropolitan Opera where he played the part of Young Clyde, both opening and closing the opera with a solo.

Phillips' other professional stage credits include A Christmas Carol: The Musical on Broadway performed at Madison Square Garden where he sang the role of Tiny Tim to Jim Dale's Scrooge; The Ten Commandments: The Musical with Val Kilmer at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Phillips, at ten years old, was the second youngest person to sing the National Anthem to open a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game (behind 9-year-old Jessica Tivens in 1990). He has also debuted original songs composed by Martin Charnin and John Kander in New York.

Film and television

Phillips had a co-starring role as Jordan Baxter, the middle son, in the feature film Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman and Lauren Graham, which premiered June 22, 2007. In the fall of 2007 he completed working on the feature film Stolen Lives starring Josh Lucas. Phillips also played the lead role in Ben 10: Race Against Time. His television credits include The Good Wife, Crossing Jordan, Judging Amy, The King of Queens, White Collar, and the Hallmark film Love's Long Journey.

Phillips, along with the rest of the cast of The Good Wife, has received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.^[5][6] He has also received three Young Artist Award nominations; Best Performance By a Leading Young Actor in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special for his role in Ben 10: Race Against Time, Best Performance by a Supporting Young Actor in a Feature Film for his role in Evan Almighty, and Best Supporting Young Actor in a TV Series for his role in The Good Wife.

Musical

Phillips, portraying Evan Goldman, was the original cast member of the Broadway musical 13. He appeared twice on The Today Show as a soloist. Phillips recorded a solo composed by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for the film Noel starring Robin Williams and Susan Sarandon. He also was a soloist on Meat Loaf's 2006 album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Graham Phillips at the Internet Movie Database