After traveling back and forth between home in New Jersey and auditions in Los Angeles, Phillips caught his big break in 1991, landing a role on Guiding Light, and earning a daytime Emmy Award nomination and Soap Opera Digest Awards nomination. He then landed the role of Kevin Marshall in the soap opera, As the World Turns and had a recurring role as Whip Morgan in the series, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. In 1996, Phillips was cast in the film, Independence Day. He then appeared in a number of television shows such as High Tide, Pacific Blue and Pensacola: Wings of Gold