From playing film and television roles to voicing video game characters, Derek Phillips has continued to dazzle critics with his robust acting profile on the stage and screen. His acting career began professionally in regional theatre while he picked up minor television roles in the early 2000s. While the accomplished actor has appeared in numerous television series, he is best known for playing Billy Riggins on NBC’s Friday Night Lights. Phillips is also popular for his captivating voice performances.
Since its 2020 premiere, Derek Phillips has provided the voice behind Heron, the main protagonist and the illegitimate son of Zeus in Blood of Zeus. The American adult animated fantasy action television series also stars other talented voice actors such as Jason O’Mara as Zeus/Elias, Claudia Christian as Hera, and Elias Toufexis as Seraphim. While Heron is the first television character Phillips has voiced, he has lent his voice to several video game characters.
Who Is Derek Phillips?
Derek Phillips is an American actor born in Miami, Florida, on April 18, 1976. He prefers to keep the spotlight on his career and doesn’t share much about his birth family and background. Growing up in Florida, Phillips wanted to become an athlete and graduated from Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, where he played with the football team. As a student, he was teammates with Alex Rodriguez and Doug Mientkiewicz who would later become successful MLB baseball players.
After high school, Phillips shifted his interest to the performing arts and moved to Texas where he studied acting at Baylor University. Subsequently, he graduated with a BFA in acting before going into the mainstream as a stage-trained actor. Armed with a BFA, Phillips began his career in New York, working on television projects and performing in regional theatre.
Derek Phillips toured the country and appeared in numerous plays, including The Winter’s Tale, Of Mice and Men, The Glass Menagerie, and King o’ The Moon. Derek is also an associate producer, assistant director and resident actor for the Texas-based theater company, Second Thought Theatre. He has performed in numerous plays with the company.
He Made His Screen Debut In 2002
While performing in regional theatre, Derek Phillips debuted on the small screen in 2002 with a recurring role on The Guiding Light. He appeared in one episode of Prison Break in 2006 before landing his breakthrough role the same year, playing Billy Riggins on Friday Night Lights. His stint on the critically acclaimed NBC television show ran across 60 episodes from 2006 to 2011.
Following his career breakthough, Derek Phillips made guest appearances in a string of TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, Numbers, The Closer, Medium, Private Practice, Castle, and Body of Proof. From 2013 to 2015, he portrayed Travis Murphy in seven episodes of Longmire. Other notable television projects under his belt include The Mentalist, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chicago P.D., Game of Silence, Criminal Minds, The Rookie, and NCIS: Hawaii. He has also starred in films such as Inside, 42 and Injustice.
Derek Phillips Is An Accomplished Voice Actor
Derek Phillips has provided the voice of many video game characters. His first voice role was in the 2012 action-adventure game, Dishonored, as Lord Treavor Pendleton. He made his debut in The Last of Us video game series in 2013, providing additional vices and voiced Corporal Christopher Winter in Aliens: Colonial Marines the next year. Phillips was featured in four video games in 2015, including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Fallout 4.
In 2016, Derek Phillips provided the voice of Randall in Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Michonne. He lent his voice to Jerry Anderson in the action-adventure survival horror video game The Last of Us Part II in 2020 and reprised the role in The Last of Us Part I n 2022. Phillips has also lent his voice to characters in other video games such as Call of Duty: Vanguard and Mortal Kombat I.
Beyond video games, Derek Phillips has voiced Heron on the critically acclaimed Netflix animated series Blood of Zeus since its premiere. The show’s second season was released on May 10, 2024, with three more in the pipeline. Phillips also voiced multiple characters in the 2021 American adult animated superhero film, Injustice. Phillips is poised to churn out more voice roles with his voice game improving with each credit. Here’s what you need to know about Blood of Zeus season 2 before you watch it.
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