Alex Phillips is the Next Big Thing
After breaking big in the House of Hancock miniseries, this Aussie actress is making a bid for Hollywood
Sure, Alex Phillips misses all the usual things about Australia (her parents, her boyfriend, the beaches, the coffee) now that she's decamped from Sydney to Los Angeles... But what she's really upset about is something a little bit more chic.
"The boutiques! The department stores!" she gushes, "there's nothing like them." But, we point out, bassike and Zimmermann ("my favourite brands," Phillips affirms) have both just opened stores in LA. And now with online shopping she need never feel too out of the Antipodean fashion loop. She hasn't had to resort to care packages stuffed with slouchy bassike pants and Zimmermann bikinis just yet.
Besides, the 24-year-old is too busy to worry too much about what she's wearing. She's spent the last six months since she made the move from Sydney's Northern Beaches to LA running around town, meeting with dialect coachs ("I feel so natural in my American accent now"), agents, heading to auditions, shooting her latest project (horror flick The Black Spot, out next year) and making friends with a posse of Aussiewood talent including Natasha Liu Bordizzo. "All the Aussies out here are actors," she laughs. "Tash and I hang out a lot. It's kind of like you can hustle together."
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The pair often eschew a night out for a movie marathon, choosing titles with strong female leads like Ex Machina and Brooklyn. "We like to compliment ourselves and say we're doing homework," Phillips jokes. Otherwise, you'll find them on a "fashion adventure", scoping out new shopping areas in Venice Beach, Culver City or the arty district downtown, or maybe in the gym (both actresses love martial arts). Phillips' weapon of choice is krav maga, the Israeli self-defence tactic beloved of fellow A-listers including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain.
Like her ultimate career idol Zoe Saldana, Phillips hopes to helm an action movie franchise one day. "It would just be so much fun," she says. "Something that combines my passion for acting and martial arts all together..." Watch this space.
