Best known for "Stand and Deliver" and "La Bamba," actor Lou Diamond Phillips, 47, is also a writer and director and recently spent seven months on the road playing King Arthur in "Camelot."He just directed the seventh entry in the film series "Love Comes Softly," based on the books by Janette Oke. The movie is Hallmark Channel's original movie "Love Takes Wing," to air at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Q: "Love Takes Wing" is about faith and is based on a Christian book series. What kind of faith do you have?

A: I was raised somewhat religiously in the respect that my family was incredibly splintered. I had the Southern Baptist grandmother, a Lutheran father, a Catholic mother, a bunch of Jewish friends. I was exposed to a lot of different ways of practicing faith. I actually got involved with Native American faith and sweat lodges. I'm a pipe carrier, a medicine bag carrier. I was named by the Lakota Nation. Faith is very important in your life, however you choose to observe it. I don't think any one of them is exclusively right, but I do think it gives you a very good foundation if you believe in something greater than ourselves.

Q: Are you authoritative or nurturing as a director?

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A: [Laughing] It's a little bit of both. It's like being a good father, you know what I'm saying? You have to be very nurturing and supportive but at the same time I think you have to have discipline. I do believe I am a good actor's director. I really care about their performances and I care about making them look good.

Q: Was there any intimidation factor in directing Cloris Leachman or Patrick Duffy?

A: They are two very different actors. To say that I was intimidated is not necessarily true. Patrick, I think, because of his series work, is amazing. If you said, "Patrick, stand on your head and blow bubbles for me," he'd say, "OK, do you want little bubbles or big bubbles?" Cloris is just her own animal. I mean, she marches to the beat of a different drum. Cloris would ask for a lot of things and often, like a father, I would have to say "No, I'm sorry, but that's just not going to work. That's not appropriate today" [laughing].

Q: As the father of four girls, how was directing them?

A: It was amazing, and all four girls are in the movie, including baby Indigo. She is being held by my wife, Evon, she's one of the town naysayers. It was wonderful. It was something for me that I'll never forget. I'm happy to say -- and I'm scared to say that -- all of the older girls have the bug. And they have talent [laughing]. It's not just because I'm daddy. It's a fun career, but it's challenging and can be tough and painful at times. Even at their age, I've tried to instill that it's not all magazine covers and limos.

Q: You seem to be a very self-reliant person. Did that trait hurt you in Hollywood?

A: That's a really good question. You know, I don't think so. I came to L.A. with a lot of my core values already intact. That certainly made me independent. I wasn't ready to play the game, and still I'm not as much as some. And yeah, I think that's hurt me a little bit because there's a social aspect to Hollywood and a networking thing that quite honestly I should get better at.

Q: You have a strong ethnic look. Has that impeded your acting opportunities?

A: It pops up every once in a while, but you know, I've made over 80 films so I don't feel boxed in.Obviously, many people out there consider my talent before they consider my ethnicity. The fact that nobody really knows what I am, anyway, really goes into that. Most people assume that I'm Mexican. I've been very proud to represent the Mexican-American community and the Latino community at large. I don't speak Spanish. It's interesting because the bigger films, like "Stand and Deliver" and "La Bamba," people automatically assume I am from that community or they assume I am Native American. I am part Cherokee, but not any amount that I'd be waving the flag over. I'm actually more Scot-Irish than anything else. If you look at my daughters, they've got the Anglican gene more than anything else.

Q: You were accepted to the Naval Academy and Yale, but you chose to stay in Texas for college. Do you regret that?

A: No, no regrets whatsoever. I had three friends I had grown up with, and we were very close. We still remain close to this day. Danny got a scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington, and we all decided we were going to stick together. Obviously, Yale would have been pretty fantastic, but I would have been up there on my own. I was a chicken at the time.

Q: That's hard to believe.

A: It's true. I sort of wanted the safety in numbers.

Q: You've been down the aisle [three] times, and you have four girls. What have you learned about women?

A: Wow [laughing]. I'm not writing any book any time soon, let's put it that way. That every woman is different, first of all. I sincerely hope that the way that I comport myself and the way I do have respect for woman and respect for love is something that I'm going to pass on to my daughters. That they are going to find a man that respects them and loves them and treats them as the individuals that they are. I am still the eternal romantic. I still love love, if you will. I love the idea of forever and being together and raising a family. Especially having children now, it's the best thing I've ever done and could ever hope to do.