When Johnny McPhail walked into the coffee shop where we met, nearly every person he passed greeted him. His 6-foot-4 stature seemed to radiate a friendliness I had not expected from such a successful actor. Oxford is home to a multitude of talented people, and, when counting our talent, Johnny McPhail is counted twice.
“Johnny is a director’s dream actor,” said Thomas L. Phillips, director of “Where I Begin.” “He wants to work. He cares about his work and will do whatever it takes to make it happen.”
McPhail was born on a cotton farm in Ellard. He grew up learning to work hard and graduated valedictorian of his senior class.
“I guess they had to give it to someone,” he modestly said. “There were only 13 of us.”
After high school, McPhail worked in various positions ranging from a labor union organizer to owner of his own furniture store.
It is impossible to speak to Johnny without learning all about his three children: Courtney, Andrew and Ashley.
“They are tremendously supportive,” McPhail said. “I couldn’t do this without them.”
Both Courtney and Andrew went to school at The University of Mississippi. Ashley, however, was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. After finding out Ashley was autistic, McPhail transformed from a working man to a stay-at-home dad.
“You would love Ashley,” he said. “She used to be very nonverbal, but now, she’ll talk your head off. Most autistic individuals are very monotone, but she’s just so expressive.”
When asked how he helped Ashley to overcome some of the shyness innate to the disorder, McPhail said, “I was basically learning for myself what worked with her. I just never gave up.”
McPhail’s acting career began when he was almost 50 with a conversation with the casting director for “The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag.” When describing his ascension into acting, McPhail said, “My curiosity, life circumstances and luck of being at the right place at the right time enabled me to get into acting.”
This humility, however, does not do justice to his career.
“He is fearless, and the camera loves him,” filmmaker Thad Lee said. “He is not some cold and closed artist waiting to deliver his line and go back to his trailer. He’s Johnny McPhail. He’s happy to be there, and he’s happy that the other cast and crew are there, too. He roots for people and tries to help them on set or with future jobs. It’s hard not to like that.”
Johnny McPhail has been featured in a multitude of films, shorts, stand-up comedy acts and theater productions over the past 20 years. He can be remembered in John Grisham’s “A Time To Kill,” and “The Chamber.”
McPhail had his first big role in “Ballast,” named as winner of the Josephine Baker Award by the Toronto Film Critics Association and Best First Feature film by the Women Film Critics Circle in 2008.
He can be seen this January co-starring with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in HBO’s episodic “True Detective.” “True Detective” is a horrifyingly factual story from Louisiana told in a series of hour-long episodes.
“The first assistant director for ‘True Detective’ is John Mallard. He is Dean Faulkner Wells’ son. He grew up here in Oxford,” McPhail said. “So I had somebody from home watching my back the whole time.”
McPhail, his wife and his daughter most recently worked on “Big Significant Things,” a production starring Harry Loyd from “Game of Thrones.”
Another of his more recent accomplishments is the nomination of “Last Call” in the Louisiana Film Prize. The film was picked as a Louisiana Film Prize Top 5 film and was a Founder’s Circle award recipient. As a top-five pick, the film will be distributed by Shorts International and the cast will attend festivals in Dallas, New Orleans and Los Angeles. As a Founders Circle award recipient, the production crew will receive a grant toward next year’s Louisiana Film Prize.
A fan base has grown of those who enjoy McPhail’s work. The Facebook page “Johnny McPhail has a posse” is an open group dedicated to his career.
“My posse, film and stage friends and fans are somewhat like a cult,” McPhail said. “Just haven’t sacrificed any chickens at this point.”
McPhail has starred in Oxford’s film festival multiple years.
“Oxford has one of the best film festivals in the world,” he said proudly. “It is every bit as good as Sundance except on a smaller scale.”
McPhail said he is the kind of man who offhandedly mentions his friendship with Matt Damon and casually calls Matthew McConaughey “a real nice guy,” but he will still talk to you endlessly about his family.
This is what makes him such a perfect example of Oxford talent. In Johnny McPhail, we find not only an extremely capable actor, but also a father, husband and member of the community.
