It turns out that Lou Diamond Phillips altered his career path and stepped away from mainstream Hollywood fare. However, it wasn't entirely by choice. In a 2021 interview with Salon, Phillips, part Filipino and Scot-Irish, discussed the role that racism played in his decision. "Hollywood has not always known what to do with me because I don't fit in their box," he said. "Now, there is more authenticity, and that is fantastic. When I started there weren't that many brown or Asian actors with a name that could be put into leading roles. Now there are so many more, and I'm incredibly happy about that." Phillips shared that although there's more diversity now, ethnic categories have narrowed and become more rigid. "They are putting labels on things and making the boxes smaller," he said. "My entire career has been fighting against those labels."

Phillips didn't give up on the entertainment world, though, and he definitely didn't throw in the towel regarding hard work. "I tend to like the genre of employment most of all," Phillips told Fox News. "I've done theater. I've done film and television, obviously. I was in a glorified garage band back in the early '90s. I've done stand-up, I've done sketch comedy. I try to hit a lot of different branches of the same creative treat."

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