Ryan Phillippe Spills on Working with Son Deacon on New Show: 'He's My Best Friend' (Exclusive)

Following a minor role on Netflix's Never Have I Ever, Deacon, 21, plays his real-life father's on-screen brother in flashbacks on the Prime Video series. While the pair don't share any scenes together, Phillippe, 50, was on set when his son filmed -- and opened up to TooFab about working on the same project.

"It was awesome, man. It was awesome to have him around," said the I Know What You Did Last Summer alum, before sharing how Deacon's casting came about in the first place.

"Obviously, it was the show-runner's idea. He came to me and he said, 'We're thinking about Deacon for this role.' And I said, 'Well, you know, offer it to him, see what he thinks,'" shared Phillippe. "I didn't want to put any pressure or anything that way."

Deacon clearly accepted the part.

"Even though we didn't have scenes together, I was on set for a lot of his scenes and just kind of walking him through, you know, this is all kind of new territory for him," said the proud father. "I was there for his first night shoot and seeing him trying to stay awake at two or three in the morning [as] we're shooting."

He added that it was "exciting" for him to have his son around, especially while up in Toronto filming for "long stretches of time." Added Phillippe: "To have him come in and out, he's one of my best-- he's like my best friend. To have that experience with him was really special, really."

Sitting alongside Phillippe for the interview was costar Michael Cimino, who said Deacon was "an incredible guy to work with." The actor went on to call Deacon "such a nice guy," adding that he "can't wait to see what the future holds for him."

While Phillippe spent much of his younger years baring his body in movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, and, most notably, Cruel Intentions, the actor said he's happy to pass those scenes on to the younger generation now.

On Motorheads, it's Cimino who gets the gratuitous shirtless scene in the premiere episode.

"I have a little protocol I do before I do a shirtless scene. I feel like most actors do," the 25-year-old Love, Victor star explained. "I hit the gym pretty consistently. Before you do a shirtless scene, there's a couple days before you might stop eating so many carbs ... the day before you shoot, you're going to maybe drink less water, kind of eat less food. And then you know, that night you're not going to eat anything."

"Then, like, the next day, I drink just coffee and tea, like, just diuretics," he explained. "And then ... we'll do like a little bit of a pump before we shoot the scene. And then we shoot it."

"Let's not kid ourselves ... at [his] age, it takes a lot less preparation than it does at this age," quipped Phillippe.

"I'm kind of glad that, you know, that that had its day," Phillippe added of his own shirtless era. "It's not necessarily something I want to keep on doing, but I do take care of myself. I'm pretty strict about diet and exercise, which I think we all need to be as we age. But I don't mind handing that aspect over to the younger folk."

Check out the video below to see what the two shared about their first cars, how they prepared for some of the show's stunts and why Ryan said he's thrilled to have a project "younger members of my family can watch."

All 10 episodes of Motorheads drop May 20, 2025 on Prime Video.