'Angel' star Richards is 'Raising' his work to new level

by Amy Amatangelo
Monday, June 8, 2009

J. August Richards never thought he would have anything in common with someone like Harrison Ford.

Richards plays Marcus McGrath on TNT's "Raising the Bar," returning for a second season tonight at 10. But many fans still remember him as Charles Gunn on the cult hit "Angel." Even though the drama went off the air in 2004, he is constantly approached by fans of that show.

"I don't think I have a very accurate idea of the show's impact," he said in a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles. "People act like meeting me is like meeting Han Solo. The show is still kind of living on, which is a strange thing to me."

Richards said he had to let go of his own views to play the conservative prosecuter on the TNT drama.

"I'm as liberal as they come," Richards said. "Marcus is very conservative, very judgemental. I had to allow myself to let go of all that I was thinking about him. It was a really spiritual process in a way. For me, a character isn't clear until I figure out the spine of who they are, and I understand someone on a quest for justice. Marcus is constantly trying to even out the scale. When you understand that, understand everything."

The premiere tonight pokes fun at viewer criticism of star Mark-Paul Gosselaar's hairstyle.

"Even people who don't know the show have a comment about his hair," Richards said and the laughed. "Everyone was talking about his hair. I was like, 'Is Mark-Paul Gosselar the new Madonna?'"

The Maryland native has wanted to be an actor since he saw the movie "King Kong" as a child. "I remember thinking and asking my father, 'Where is that right now? Can I go there?'"

Nearly a decade ago, the Los Angeles Times followed Richards for a year to chronicle an African-American actor auditioning in Hollywood. That happened to be the year he landed "Angel". Does he think the industry has changed since then?

"It's interesting. People will say to me, 'You're a supporting actor and when are you going to get your own show?' And I think, 'What show is that?' There isn't one. Inroads are being made. (Producer) Shonda Rhimes did something so revolutionary (with ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy') by having more than one person of color on the same show," he said. "But there's a distance to go. A distance to climb. For me specifically, it's been amazing. I've been blessed to work with the best producers in the business. I cannot complain. Even slightly."

iF: Did you read David Feige's book?

RICHARDS: Once I got the role, I started to read the book and then I put it down, because I realized that the show was written from the point of view of the public defenders and I didn't play a public defender. While I was toyally engrossed by the book, I put it down on page one hundred. Because I was like, 'Nn-nn. If I'm going to be a prosecutor, that's not the point of view I need.'

iF: Does your character have an opposite number in the public defender's office?

RICHARDS: mark-Paul [Gosselaar]. We're often described, he and I, as opposites of a similar coin. We're both very idealistic, but on different sides of the bar.

iF: How does race play into that, if it does?

RICHARDS: In a really beautiful way. They deal with it the way I've always thought race should be dealt with, either totally or not at all. The thing about this show is, they use both. They deal with it sometimes completely, like either I was chosen to try this case because I'm black, or it doesn't matter, it could have been anybody. But race is definitely used to the advantage. That's what I thought was so great about GREY'S ANATOMY. They used race to the advantage of the storyline. We do that on this show, too.

iF: Were you approached to do RAISING THE BAR based on any previous work of yours the producers had seen?

RICHARDS: I believe so. There were certain advantages to getting the role that were probably because of CONVICTION, so yes, I would say so. I've kind of got a small reputation for playing a lawyer these days, all thanks to Joss [Whedon, who co-created and executive produced ANGEL, which gabe Richards his first lawyer role]. He started that process and here we go.

iF: Speaking of Joss Whedon, have you checked out the ANGEL comic books at all?

RICHARDS: No, what's going on with them?

iF: Your character Gunn got vamped and he's now the Big Bad of L.A.

RICHARDS: You're kidding! Oh, my God. I need to see this. That is crazy. I was told that that was what was going to happen if we were to continue or do a TV movie, but I'm so happy to actually see it happening somewhere. I always though Gunn's end should be, he should turn into a vampire and kill himself. That's always how I saw that character ending. I hope I get to act that one day, I really do. I'm still connected to that character.

iF: When Gunn first started getting to dress for court on ANGEL you said your real-life family got very excited about seeing you in the suits. Are they still happy about that?

RICHARDS: Yeah, they are. The suits just keep getting better, actually. This character has a signiture costume design, which is suspenders.

iF: Do suspenders play into the psychology of the character?

RICHARDS: Deeply. I couldn't even play the character without suspenders any more. It's about somebody who comes from the bottom of nothing and feels like he doesn't belong, so he has to overdo it to feel like he belongs. It's all on the outside, the fact that I'm here and I belong shows up in the clothing. He's the best-dressed guy on the show, and it's because he comes from this other side of the tracks. He goes overboard, you know [laughs].

iF: What's happening with the film you were in, PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS?

RICHARDS: They're still looking for distribution. I think it's actually going to DVD pretty soon, which is the way of a lot of movies these days [laughs]. It's a family drama. I play a stockbroker in that, so when people say, 'You've played three lawyers in a row,' I say, 'No, I played a stockbroke in there, too.' And a security guard in a play, LOBBY HERO [in San Diego].

iF: How was it returning to the stage?

RICHARDS: It was in the round. And literally I had to act with my ass in some scenes, because my ass was to ninety percent of the audience and I had to communicate what I needed to communicate through my entire backside. And I learned how to do it. Television turns out to be all about the close-up, and the first two weeks of the rehearsal [for the play], I was totally lost. But as it went on, I remembered how to do stage and it was beautiful. True communication has got nothing to do with the words. You can communictae beautiful things through your back if you're really feeling like it.

iF: Is working with the RAISING THE BAR ensemble different than CONVICTION and/or ANGEL?

RICHARDS: Really, just the fact that they're different people. I do my best to learn something from everybody that I work with. The beautiful thing about Mark-Paul [Gosselaar] is that he and I have the same work ethic - which is not to say that other people haven't had a great work ethic. Jane [Kaczmarek] knows how to bring fun to everything and I try to take that from her. I have the same respect for this ensemble as any ensemble I've worked with.

iF: Were you familiar with Steven Bochco's work before this?

RICHARDS: Yes. I grew up watching his shows, of course, [including] DOOGIE HOWSER and of course Neil [Patrick Harris] is a friend of mine now. It's so cool how, when I was a little boy, [the Richards family] thought I watched too much TV. What they didn't realize was that I was studying. I've watched all of Steven's shows and I'm very honored to be in the pantheon of people that he's had on his shows.

iF: Anything else people should know about your work on RAISING THE BAR?

RICHARDS: I'm having a great time, I'm just loving it amd I hope people enjoy the show.