In 2020, Zane Phillips was ready to leave acting behind. It was during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic when theaters were shuttered, and plays and musicals were postponed indefinitely. The seasoned stage actor, who’d earned his B.F.A. in musical theater from Elon University, began wondering if theater was really his calling. “The entire time that I was doing it, I felt a little bit like a square peg in a round hole,” he recalls. But before he quit acting completely, Phillips decided to submit audition tapes for a few television and film projects. His expectations were low: Though he’d accumulated an enviable array of stage credits like Rolf in the National Tour of The Sound of Music, his on-camera experience was limited. Then, he got a callback. And the part.

As pandemic restrictions eased, the Texas native found himself on his first film set. The project: 2022’s Fire Island, a rom-com that puts a queer, modern-day twist on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Phillips played Dex, an OnlyFans creator whose sex-positivity turns troublesome as he flirts and fights with his fellow Fire-Islanders. The shift from theater was challenging, but also uniquely exciting. “With TV and film, you’re playing a character that nobody’s ever played before. So, you get this sort of power to dictate, ‘Alright, how does this person show up?’” he explains.

His darkly humorous turn in Fire Island was followed by a stint on the popular The CW series Legacies, a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries. Despite only appearing in the latter half of the show’s final season, Phillips’ brooding demigod, Ben, quickly became a fan favorite—a testament to his scene-stealing charisma. And the rising actor/model’s following only continues to grow. Most recently, he earned praise for playing douchey himbo Chad, the spoiled son of makeup mogul Madolyn Addison (Kim Cattrall), in Netflix’s short-lived comedy series Glamorous. Phillips describes the role as his favorite thus far, offering him a chance to tap into the wealthy, dudebro villain archetype that was a staple of ‘80s flicks—think Steff from Pretty In Pink or Stan in Revenge of the Nerds.

“I want to play characters that feel alive,” he says. “Down the line, I can be more of a hidden, furtive kind of actor, but right now it feels good to use what I bring to the table: a sense of being responsive. And I loved Chad because he was so responsive.”

The up-and-coming talent also appreciates having worked on projects like Glamorous and Fire Island that center on LGBTQ+ storylines. As a gay teenager in Fredericksburg, Texas—a town of just 10,000 people—he struggled to find community around him. In that circumstance, he explains, “Media becomes your only connection to this queer world that exists inside you, and you just want confirmation that it exists outside of yourself as well,” making his work all the more meaningful to him.

The uncertainty Phillips felt about his career in 2020 is far behind him, but he sometimes wrestles with a new emotion: disbelief. “There are moments where I’m on set, or doing something a little out there, and I’m like, ‘I’m living a life that I used to watch on TV?’ And that’s where I’m like, ‘Zane, just shut up your brain and enjoy what it is.’”

This story appears in the pages of VMAN 52: now available for purchase!

Photography Daniel Sachon

Fashion Soki Mak

Makeup Melissa Rodgers (The Only) using DIOR Forever Foundation

Hair Yiotis Panayiotou using DYSON Haircare 

Executive producer Dan Cingari

Photo assistant Ryan Hacket

Stylist assistant Jack Wilson

Location Smashbox Studios