*Lawrence H. Robinson is the newest cast member to join Tyler Perry’s hit BET television series Sistas. Robinson isn’t new to television however, having made appearances on a number of hit shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, while at the same time building his social media presence.
To date, Lawrence has garnered 136,000 followers on Instagram. Lawrence spoke with EURweb recently about his new character Chris on Sistas about building his social media following, his upcoming Christmas movie The Business of Christmas and more.
So my first question to you is, so how did you go about getting the role on Sistas?
Lawrence H. Robinson: I got an audition from Kim Coleman[Owner of Kim Coleman Casting]. I went in I want to say it was on a Thursday and I got the job the next day.
And what about the character most stood out to you?
Lawrence H. Robinson: I just love the whole idea of Chris’ story; me being a kid of West Philadelphia, Chris is from the streets as well. And although I grew up with my mom and my dad in my life, his story was a little different. So I knew a lot of people from Philly, that’s like that and didn’t grow up with both of their parents and I know it could be hard, making something out of yourself, [while] not having your family’s support. So for me, connecting to the character meant a lot to me, because he had a rough childhood. So me knowing those people personally I felt really connected because even though it wasn’t my story, I have a lot of friends and family that have had that same kind of story growing up.
And can you talk about working with the cast as well as Tyler Perry’s direction? What stood out to you about working with Tyler Perry and the cast and crew of Sistas?
Lawrence H. Robinson: Tyler Perry is a very positive, but serious, director. He hires you, and he expects you to come and get the job done. So I didn’t take that lightly. I am honored and I am grateful to work with Tyler Perry. So once I showed up to set it was like alright, you got the job now you have to do the work. working with Tyler Perry Studios is all about family. Working with Tyler and working with the cast it’s just a strong family environment from the PA’s to the Assistant Director, everybody treats you like family. It just felt like I knew these people all of my life. So that’s what I love most about working with Tyler Perry and Tyler Perry Studios is the fact that I felt at home the moment I showed up on set.
In thinking ahead what direction would you like to see your character Chris go in as the series progresses?
Lawrence H. Robinson: I would like my character to go on a journey of his childhood if they could go and touch on what are the hardships that Chris had to go through to become a millionaire because he basically grew up without his mom and dad and he went to jail for attempted murder and he’s starting his life all over. Now he owns this construction business and now he has a million dollars. I would like to go back and I would also like to see them explore my character’s[other] relationships because I feel like brotherhood is an important part in every, black man’s life. Everybody needs that relationship,[meaning] another black man to help you out, whether it’s your brother, your father, or your best friend. We all need that support from another black man that can be like ‘You know, you need to get yourself together.’ I also like the fact that Chris is dating Lisa because she’s an older woman, and he didn’t have a mom and now he’s dating an older woman. I would like to see how their relationship plays out and will they stay together.
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor?
Lawrence H. Robinson: I discovered acting in 2008 [while] in community college in Philadelphia and I knew I wanted to be an actor when I took an elective there. I just realized after I took that elective that I wanted to change my major to communications/theater. So with that, I went to TSAW which is Tasha Smith Acting Workshop and that workshop was the reason why I realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. So after that I moved to New York and I just started pursuing my career as an actor and I lived there for five years and then I moved to L.A., I’m going on three years now and I’ve basically been chasing this craft for almost eight years now.
So you just mentioned about being in New York as well as Los Angeles. Can you talk a little bit about the differences between pursuing acting in New York versus pursuing acting in L.A.?
Lawrence H. Robinson: So in New York I found myself being very successful with commercials and print. I did Macy’s commercials and Timex and Outback Steakhouse [commercials]. I was booking a lot of jobs there. And I did a small job on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as well, I don’t want to say small job because no job is a small job, but I booked a role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the film Brotherly Love which starred Keke Palmer. But I got cut out of the movie and that really stuck with me. And it was so hard to get those opportunities in New York, because a lot of times in New York, it’s not a lot of auditions for TV and film, you only have a few shows in New York, that shoot there. But in L.A., there are way more opportunities because there are so many features being made, so many TV shows and pilots being written. So I felt like if I moved to L.A. it was gonna open up my chances of getting in the audition room more so I can get a chance to do what I love and do what I’ve been pursuing. I’ve never stopped going to acting class. I really enjoy living in New York because I learned how to be a great actor taking classes in New York because I feel like people in New York take the craft of acting very seriously and they’re very disciplined. And L.A. is very disciplined as well, it’s just there is more opportunity for people in L.A. in my opinion. I thought that it was better for me to move and to basically broaden my chances of getting opportunities.
I see that you have a large following on Instagram. Talk about how you go about building that following on social media.
Lawrence H. Robinson: Social media is one of those things where you just have to know who you are and whatever that is, you have to just be OK with that and sell that like you can’t copy somebody else’s blueprint on how they run their social media. If you’re into fashion, if you’re into fitness, if you’re into cooking or if you like, just taking selfies whatever that is you got to know how to do that and do it well and be okay with bringing whatever you have to offer to the table. And for me, I was never ashamed of selling myself and, a lot of times people feel like when you sell yourself on social media it projects vanity, but I knew that it was a bigger picture for me. I was just trying to get more eyes on me while I was doing the work of being an actor and going to acting class and going on my audition. I was posting on social media because I felt like it was a tool that I needed to use. I didn’t really care about the opinions that people thought like ‘oh he’s always posting pictures of himself. I never let that get to my head and the more so I did that, I just became super popular on social media, and people started making memes of me. My pictures just started going viral. And because of that, I have a lot of people in the industry that follow me because I was going viral. I had casting directors that were following me that didn’t even know I was an actor, but they would just follow me because I was selling myself. So I think that when it comes to building a social media following, just trust your gut. If you feel like you want to do funny videos, if you want to do a cooking show on your IG channel do a cooking show. So whatever it is that you want to do, do that and don’t worry about what people think, and you’ll be successful.
Tell us a little bit about your upcoming movie: The Business of Christmas and talk about getting involved with that project and working on the project a little bit.
Lawrence H. Robinson: I’m really excited about this film because it’s starring Daphne Maxwell Reid who is Aunt Viv from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air who we’ve all watched and Jennifer Freeman who was Claire from My Wife and Kids and Roger Guenveur Smith, he’s been in everything, and I have my bro one of my fellow actors that I came up with Kamel Goffin. Me and him came up together in New York. So we’re basically like an ensemble cast. And it’s about us dealing with some hardships around Christmas time. It’s a family movie, but it has just a lot of viable key points of running a successful business, but also a coming of age story with my character Noah Franklin. He’s a music producer and he’s trying to balance being successful, but also being a family man. And we know a lot of people that are into art it’s hard to chase your dreams and still be connected with your family. So I don’t want to tell too much of the story, but it’s about Noah going on a journey and trying to figure things out. And I feel like it’s a coming of age story for a lot of young men. And I’m excited for people to go on this journey with my character. And I’m just very grateful that I got the role. I actually didn’t audition for the role, I got offered the role by Jami McCoy- Lankford, who is my executive producer. Somebody referred her and she tested me out and she wanted me to play the part. And I’m honored I got to be in this cast with these people that I have been watching on TV all my life. So it’s going to be a great film and I’m excited for people to see it this Christmas.
Story by Kadeem Lundy
Twitter/Instagram: KLunjuly9
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kadeem-lundy-6764b515
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