Having done plenty of films ('Coming Home,' 'Poltergeist,' 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back') and TV series, including a stint on ABC's 'Dynasty' where his character wooed Diahann Carroll, and the original 'V' series, Richard Lawson has a new role that brings back him in the spotlight and close to heart as he stars in Tyler Perry's much-buzzed about adaptation of Ntozake Shange's legendary play, 'For Colored Girls.'

The California state native plays Frank, the smooth-talking, faithless lover of Juanita (played by Loretta Devine).

Black Voices caught up with Richard Lawson. Excerpts of the interview are below.

BlackVoices.com: Did Tyler reach out to you or did you audition for the role?

Richard Lawson: I auditioned maybe in March, and I didn't really find out until sometime in April, but I knew they loved the audition. They took a minute to set the cast with the women, and then finally when they set Loretta Devine, they knew the age-range they had to cast. It was exciting to be on this projkecbecause on this project Ntozake Shange is a friend of mine. She directed me in 'The Mighty Gents' and I've done about three different projects with her. I was really excited to be doing the film with Tyler and all the women, and also it was Ntozake's project.

I'm sure you're familiar with the play, but did you ever expect it to be made into a film?

RL: At the time I was expecting it to be made into a film in 1980 or something, but I know how those things go. I had the great fortune to do a play called 'No Place To Be Somebody' back in 1969, which was a Pulitzer Prize winning play. I was expecting that to turn into a film and it never did for a various number of reasons. I'm just glad it's coming to the screen and Tyler did an incredible job with it. I think it's going to help change the world.

Tell us about your character?
RL: Frank is a Vietnam vet who came back and is trying to get his life together. One of the ways he does that is to try to impress and charm women; it's the one thing he can control in his life. He doesn't mean to hurt anyone, but his identity is wrapped up in how women care for him and that's the way he can control his life. He would go back and forth between the women who was never identified who would help take care of him. Juanita loved him and the other woman took care of him, financially, materially. He's not a bad guy, just didn't do a good thing.

How was working with Loretta?

RL: Loretta and I fell in love within three minutes of meeting each other. The chemistry we had is really phenomenal. We've both been in the business for many years and we understood what our job was. I met Loretta in the van to go to the set on the first day, and within three blocks we were in love. The chemistry speaks for itself.

Working with Tyler, how was his direction?

RL: Tyler is very confident as a director. He's done numerous films and he knows what he wants and is very clear about it. I think Tyler cast well because he knows when they get there they're going to bring it, and everyone brought it. All he has to do is put up guardrails; he doesn't have to work real hard to help people find places they have trouble going to. All the people in this film were thoroughbreds, so all he has to do is provide the track for them to run on and then let them go.

What did you think of the parts that did not come from the source material?

RL: I think the storyline is excellent. They derived excellent stories from referential characters. There are no men in the play but they talk about the men. I think the men who were referenced were created in a way that Ntozake would be happy with. It's very difficult material to make work. They're poems. There weren't real people, just people they refer to. It takes a real sure hand to bring all that to life. I think he's done a great job and I'm really glad people have started finding a new level of respect for Tyler. This is a film that well-seasoned directors would have trouble bringing to life, and he's done a great job. I think he's staked his claim to be a great director.

After doing numerous TV and film projects. How important do you think this body of work will be to your career?

RL: Well, if you go back over the 40 years I've been in the business I've done some pretty significant work going back to 'Coming Home,' 'Audrey Rose,' 'The Main Event,' 'Poltergeist,' all of that. I think this is another film I can add to the repertoire of stuff that I've done. I don't particularly see it as something to launch my career to a level it hadn't been at some point. In this business you get discovered like fifteen times. I think there's a lot of people who haven't been familiar with my work, it's been awhile since I've been on the 'A' team so to speak, It's a piece of work I'm very, very proud of. What happens with this we'll see, but I have a great sense of pride in it.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

RL: I do. I have a series I did that was shot in Australia called 'Angry Boys.' It stars a comedian named Chris Lilley, who's well-known in the rest of the world. In his previous series he starred, wrote, created, and played six different characters. It's called 'Summer Heights High.' 'Angry Boys' will start right at the first of the year. It's on BBC, HBO, and Australian television around the world. It's a mockumentary, and if you know anything about his style it's funny. I'm really excited about that. Then I have a school called The Richard Lawson Studios, and the stuff we're creating through the school is really exciting, we're filling a hole that was in the previous teaching model. For 30 years I taught for Milton Katselas, a famous Hollywood coach. I was the main teacher there at The Beverly Hills Playhouse and I've taught some of the biggest actors in the world. I opened up my own shop and I'm real excited about what we're doing and the global space we're making.

What do you make of the resurrection of 'V' as a TV series?

RL: Isn't that great! It's too bad my character got killed in the original pilot. Yeah, I think it's cool because it was such an iconic series at the time. They really created something that was huge. I don't know how well it's doing now, I hope it's doing well!