Lou Diamond Phillips is of Cherokee, Hawaiian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Scotch-Irish American ancestry.<ref name="newsref2">{{cite news|title=The Return of the Native|publisher=Starweek Magazine|year=1999}}</ref><ref name="newsref3">{{cite web|url=http://www.2g.org/home/news/meettheartist/currentnews-loudiamondphilips.shtml|title=Second Generation|access-date=March 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Honeycutt|first=Kirk|title=Lou Diamond Phillips: From Young Gun to Young Writer|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 19, 1990|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-19/entertainment/ca-3055_1_young-guns|access-date=November 28, 2009}}</ref>