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5 Minute Sit-Down with ‘The Gifted’s’ Jeff Daniel Phillips

During my weekend at Fan Fest Nashville I was able to catch up with actor, writer and director Jeff Daniel Phillips. He has a resume that many may be shocked to read. Not only was he the “Geico Caveman” but his skills have had him on stages across the world, on the small screen as well as the big screen. Jeff’s talents do not stop at acting. He also has worked as a production designer, prop master, writer and director. Rob Zombie fans may recognize him as he has starred in three of Rob’s films, but most will know him as Fade/Tex from ‘The Gifted’ which airs on Fox.

Rachel Bryant: So I was looking at your background and I see that you have an amazing career ranging from acting, writing and directing, which do you prefer doing?

Jeff Daniel Phillips: Whichever pays the bills. No seriously, it is good to mix it up. Each one feeds the other. I started out in directing and filmmaking and decided that I needed to know more about acting to become a better director and that turned around into becoming more of an actor which ended up fueling the writing.

RB: You have done films and television series, which do you prefer doing?

JDP: It all depends really. With television, it depends who you are put together with. With ‘Westworld‘, ‘The Gifted‘ and ‘Claws‘, I have been very fortunate because you are stuck with those people for months, and especially ‘The Gifted’ is a sweet group of people of all ages and that is what will be the success of the show is that we all get along so well. The writers too are excellent.

RB: Has ‘The Gifted’ been picked up for season two?

JDP: Yes, it has been picked up and we will begin shooting soon.

RB: Besides ‘The Gifted‘ do you have any other projects?

JDP: I just finished this movie ‘3 from Hell‘ which is a film by Rob Zombie. It isn’t a sequel but more of a continuation of the movie ‘The Devil’s Rejects‘. Of course, it was ‘The House of 1,000 Corpses‘ then ‘The Devil’s Rejects‘ and now ‘3 from Hell’ so it will be a trilogy. The three main characters from those movies will be in this one. Then I was in Kentucky, working on a movie called ‘Becoming‘ and in that movie, there is a guy named Toby Kebbell who is fantastic. He was in ‘Planet of the Apes‘ and a ton of other movies. The woman is Penelope Mitchell who starred in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and a lot of other tv shows. The storyline is about an entity that is moving through people, it is a strange sci-fi type of movie. It is directed by a man named Omar Naim who did a movie called ‘Final Cut‘ starring Robin Williams. I also have three movies that are about to happen I hope. One is a heist movie, one is a drug lord movie and another is a comedy plus this show. So, the summer is looking busy.

So you can check out Jeff Daniel Phillips out on ‘The Gifted’ or ‘Westworld’ or catch him in some of his infamous roles in those Rob Zombie films.  Besides it’s so easy even a caveman can do it….sorry I couldn’t help it….