Phillips studied English literature[1] at La Trobe University in Melbourne, with the intention of becoming a teacher, before he turned to acting as a career.
His television career was later followed by roles in Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, Blue Heelers, Something in the Air and The Saddle Club.
In 2002, he made his feature film debut with a role in Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao (also starring Kevin Smith, Shedrack Anderson III and Nina Liu).
His next role, the lead in Australian Rules, earned him a nomination for the Film Critics Circle of Australia's Best Actor award, alongside David Gulpilil, Guy Pearce and Vince Colosimo.
[4] Although tipped for big things in Hollywood after the success of Wolf Creek, Phillips chose to go travelling for long periods of time, rather than focus on his career as an actor.