It takes Phillips till 2:30 a.m. to unwind after an evening show, and he likes to start the process here with a black and tan (ale and Guinness) and a plate of crabmeat salad. Phillips favors the obscure corner tables, where he can avoid the squeals and stares of fans. "The waiters are neighborhood guys. Old-time respect," Phillips says. Tonight they want him to try oxtail soup. "This isn't a gag, is it?" he yells. "This better not be ox dick. I'm from Texas- I know the difference."

Phillips, at 34, is more enthusiastic than macho. He has the confident aura of some-one riding an enormous career comeback. His fierce multiethnic look-Filipino, Spanish, Hawaiian and Cherokee, among others was the rage when he was a young man starring in La Bamba and Stand and Deliver. But he hasn't succeeded in finding adult roles that suit his explosive talent. Until now.

In addition to The King and I, Phillips is co-starring in this month's Courage Under Fire, the first big-time Hollywood movie about the Gulf War. Phillips plays Monfriez, a buffed-out would-be hero who finds himself in a harrowing battlefield standoff with his commanding officer, played by Meg Ryan. After the war, Monfriez cannot escape the pursuit of Denzel Washington, who's assigned to find out the truth of what hap-pened in the desert. "This is a milestone year for me," Phillips says. "Both parts came out of the blue and depended on my going and showing I had the goods."

Phillips took a big chance in reprising the role that theater lovers associate with Yul Brynner. But he brings to the part a youthful uncertainty that pleased the critics. "The king is like a pillar, but he becomes wracked with doubt," Phillips says. "Suddenly, you are dealing not with an icon but a human being. "

An Army brat whose father served in Vietnam, Phillips grew up thinking a lot about heroism and patriotism. And in his first years as an actor, mostly doing theater in Texas, he was invariably cast in warrior roles of another sort. "A red gang bandanna was my uniform," he remembers.

His current look is equally distinctive. Instead of imitating Brynner's famed bald head, Phillips is sporting a wide mohawk."I would have done anything but shave my head," he says. "I get it cut down once a week."The mohawk doesn't seem to bother his second wife, Kelly, who happens to be a make-up artist. They've been married for two years and have a very supportive relationship. "When Kelly drove me to the audition for Courage Under Fire, she said it was like dropping off a little kid at school," Phillips re-calls. "After it was over,I told her, 'If I don't get this part, it's about name recognition or something. But it won't be about acting.' "

A second black and tan is drained. "Getting the role in Courage Under Fire wasn't about race, either," he adds."lt was about being the best."

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