For Boris Kodjoe, starring in the popular television drama 'Soul Food' and a handful of popular black films, including 'Love and Basketball,' 'Brown Sugar,' 'The Gospel' and 'Madea's Family Reunion,' didn't given him the international acclaim that could take his film career to another level.

But that should change when the Vienna native, in probably his biggest exposure to date, stars alongside Bruce Willis in 'Surrogates,' which opens Sept. 25.

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years to investigate a murder.

Kodjoe will next travel to Toronto to film 'Resident Evil: Afterlife,' the fourth film of the popular franchise that stars Milla Jovovich.

While work is piling up, Kodjoe still finds time to spend with his wife, fellow 'Soul Food' actress Nicole Ari Parker, and their children back home in Atlanta.

Black Voices caught up with the actor to talk about his new role, his other projects and the foundation he started for his daughter.

What attracted you to this film?

Boris Kodjoe: If it's not on the script, then it's not on the screen. With this film, there was something I could be really involved with. We're living in a time where technology has slowly taken over, not only the human workforce but human communication. It's a dangerous prospect that interests me tremendously, because if we stop communicating, our relationships will break apart. That's a very critical aspect of trying to get family structures back and get relationships back on point. The movie is set in a time like today, where we have technology that enables us to live vicariously through a robot , or surrogate. Having discussions with people who feel that a Blackberry and a cell phone and two-way pagers and video games aren't a big deal, I think they're tremendously disruptive when it comes to human interaction. That's one of the reasons why I won't let my kids play a bunch of video games. I need them to develop their own thought processes and fantasy, make up stories and draw pictures. I think it's very timely.

You play a character who's an FBI agent and happens to be Bruce Willis' boss. How was working with him on this film?

BK: Bruce is great! He's a tremendous actor, has many years doing this and he's got it down pat. He knows his audience, he knows his tools and he's a master at using them. It was great to just be in his presence and his energy and watch people interact with him, because everyone is so in awe of him. It was great. He's a cool guy, fun dude, and we had a good time.

You've worked on sci-fi films before with 'Starship Troopers 3: Marauder.' Do you like the genre?

BK: 'Starship' was definitely a sci-fi movie, but 'Surrogates' is not as sci-fi as you might think. It's more of an action-thriller than anything else. But I find myself in these movies lately, and that's not a bad direction! I'm about to start on 'Resident Evil: Afterlife,' which sort of goes in that direction, more post-apocalyptic, but it has those kind of influences as well. It's interesting. There's a lot of CG and trickery, but it also presents a unique challenge because you have to act with a green screen and a lot of gadgetry. It's fun. I wasn't really a sci-fi or a Trekkie guy. I grew up completely different, but maybe it's something I'm interested in right now.

What's your role in 'Resident Evil?'

BK: I play the leader of the survivors in L.A. Milla Jovovich's character, Alice, is roaming the world looking for survivors and she's winds up in L.A., which has been burning for three years. She comes across an L.A. jail surrounded by these zombies, and there's a couple of survivors. She lands on top of the roof and partners up with me to fight the guys that are coming after them. We're trying to get all of the survivors out of the jail to safety. We're starting next week in Toronto.

What's the foundation that you started for your daughter?

BK: We established a foundation last year in honor of Sophie, who was born with spina bifida. It's called the Sophie's Voice Foundation. We are trying to raise awareness to let people know that in this country alone there are 60 million women at risk of having a child with spina bifida, the most preventable birth defect in the world. It can be prevented if women would take their dose of folic acid every day. Folic acid is a B vitamin obtainable either through prenatals or CVS or any drug store, it's over the counter. We're raising awareness. We're also raising funds for research, as well as helping families who are affected with our family outreach programs. We just had a big fundraiser in New York last week, so we continue to work. It's sort of become our mission. We devised a plan with which we can possibly eradicate spina bifida worldwide within 10 years.

You did such a tremendous job last year in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' Any aspirations to do theater again?

BK: Oh, thank you. It was the experience of my life. I don't know if you can ever top that. It was such a tremendous time I had with these amazing people. The adrenaline that comes up when you step on that stage. Just to work with James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Giancarlo Esposito and Anika Noni Rose... it was a dream come true. It showed me also that I can do this. It's given me tremendous confidence. When you're in Hollywood, people like to label you and put you in a corner. Let you play the handsome husband or boyfriend. It was a longshot for me to get offered other roles. I think that by being on that stage I've proven to myself and others that I can hold my own. I would go back in a second and do another Broadway play. I just had a great time.

Do you have any plans to work with your wife anytime soon?

BK: Absolutely, I love working with my wife. She's an amazing actress. She's really gifted. Every time I get a chance to work with her it makes me better. We have a great time together. We have a project in development that's a romantic comedy we're gonna do together next year. She's doing 'The Deep End' right now, which is a new ABC series she's shooting with Billy Zane. So she's doing her thing. I'm very proud of her.