Gina Philips Leaves "Boston" Behind in "Jeepers Creepers"

Author: Heather Wadowski
Published on: Sep 14, 2001

David E. Kelley sweetheart Gina Philips (“Boston Public,” “Ally McBeal”) has just returned from filming her newest film, “Anarchist.” Her dogs are barking happily at the sight of their owner, who they missed while she was away on shoot. Although she has only been home for a few days, Philips already finds herself busy promoting “Jeepers Creepers,” American Zoetrope’s summer horror movie that she is starring in. Philips, however, doesn’t mind.

Philips dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania only three credits short of graduating (much to her parents dismay) in order to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Although she claims she had every intention of going back to school to finish her dual degree in communications and marketing, Philips soon found herself unable to turn down the numerous opportunities that were at her feet. While at first she worked on completing her credits by taking classes in UCLA’s extension program, Philips gave up on her degrees with only one credit to go and says she doesn’t regret her decision at all.

“I got my education,” Philips said. “I don’t need a certificate validating that. If a class comes along that I am interested in taking and will fulfill my graduation requirements, I will take it. But my degrees were simply an aside to what I always wanted to do—act.”

Philips, who is a native of Miami, Florida, grew up with the belief that acting was simply something people did as a hobby. Although she attended a performing arts school as a child and always found herself cast in plays, Philips never once thought that she could make a career out of acting. Now, this rising star has found herself cast in numerous guest starring TV roles, from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nice” to her most recent role on FOX’s “Boston Public.” However, her own biases almost kept her from landing her breakthrough role in “Ally McBeal.”

“I was sent over a script for a small part in “Ally McBeal” but I didn’t want to go in for the audition,” Philips remembered. “The role was looking for this bombshell type and I am this puny, 5-foot-3-inches tall girl. The guy directing that episode called me up though and told me how stupid I was being and to get over there and audition. It took him three calls before I finally met with David (Kelley) and the next thing I knew I got the part.”

Not only did Philips get the two-episode guest role as Sandy Hingle, Kelley liked her character enough to make Philips part of the “Ally McBeal” ensemble cast for a whole year. In fact, Philips stuck in Kelley’s mind so much that when she left at the end of the season to film “Jeepers Creepers” and the upcoming “Nailed,” he wrote her a new part in his latest drama, “Boston Public,” when she returned from the shoot. “It was pure luck,” Philips said. “I liked his work and he liked mine and he is such a loyal person that when I returned from shooting the film he wrote a part for me so we could continue to work together. It was great too because the role of Jenna Miller was the complete opposite of my role on “Ally McBeal,” and I liked that.”

While Philips says that it’s nice to be part of an ensemble cast, she also enjoyed stepping into the spotlight with “Jeepers Creepers.” The film focuses on Philips’ character taking a road trip back home from college with her brother (Justin Long) when she unleashes a bloodthirsty creature that chases the two of them on their drive. While the plot could easily be dismissed as just another teen slasher movie, Philips assures the public that she would never take part in such a film.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love those ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’/’Scream’ films, but I love horror movies even more,” Philips said. “I’m a horror film fanatic so nothing ever scares me anymore. However, when I read the first thirty pages of “Jeepers Creepers” I was freaking out. It truly captures that Hitchcockian feel. That creepy feeling that made “The Omen” and the original “Nightmare on Elm Street” such classics is captured in this film and I just crossed my fingers and hoped I got the part.”

Not only did Philips land the lead role, she was the first person cast in the project. After reading with numerous other hopefuls competing for the role of her brother, Philips knew when the right person walked in—that being “ED”’s Justin Long.

“I read with many guys who wanted to land the role, but when Justin walked in I knew he had the part,” Philips recalled. “We just had that whole older sister/younger brother chemistry right from the start so I knew it would be easy to establish that relationship.”

Once Philips and Long were cast, the two spent a great deal of time working on developing their characters. Although Philips says that Long is the complete opposite of her own brother, she understood their own relationship fairly easy since her brother was the same age as Long’s character.

“I knew that Justin and I had to work on making the audience feel like we truly cared about one another. I made sure that our dialogue was honest because in real life you don’t just love your siblings—you grow to love them. I wanted to make sure that the fact we would do anything to protect one another—even die for each other—came across, as well as the fact he bugged me. In other words, I wanted the audience to know that I wanted to take care of him and beat him up at the same time.”

Once Philips and Long established their onscreen relationship, Philips found herself with the challenge to adjust being in a lead role. While Philips says she excited to be starring in her own feature film after “playing the daughter of every Italian man in Hollywood,” she admits that the experience was nerve-wracking as well.

“There were moments on the set where it was obvious that Justin and I were carrying the film,” Philips admits. “The fact that we didn’t even have one moment free caused both of us to feel stressed, and one thing you learn in the business is that when you are on a set feelings are contagious. So we were faced with the responsibility to keep everyone happy and hide our stress, which I never had to worry about before.”

With “Jeepers Creepers” now in theaters and the independent film “Anarchist” (starring Philips’ ex-boyfriend Johnny Whitworth) already wrapped, Philips is happy to go back to the set of “Boston Public.” Although she would like to co-star in another film, Philips isn’t sure when she will have time, especially since she is starring in an upcoming production of “The Vagina Monologues.”

“I have such big goals right now I am not sure if I will ever meet them,” Philips laughed. “Seriously though, I really want to do it all. Between “Jeepers Creepers,” “Boston Public” and “The Vagina Monologues” I am hopping back and forth between all these acting mediums, and I couldn’t be happier.”

So what is left for this rising young star? Philips says she is grateful for her classes in college that taught her how to budget and finance and is hoping those skills will help her save her paychecks so that she can travel the world. Philips also says she is interested in opening a restaurant one day, though the recent closure of the jazz and blues club she helped open with her brother is giving her second thoughts.

“The restaurant business is the only business more crazy and unpredictable than acting,” she said. “Although I would love the idea of opening my own restaurant, if I don’t I’ll be okay. I like to travel and take photographs, so there are other things I like that can occupy me.”

If worse comes to worse, Philips always has that one credit looming over her head to finish her college degrees.