Lloyd Richards: Raisin in the Sun was a big risk. Not necessarily for me; it was for a lot of other people. Of course, I was putting a lot on the line. Raisin in the Sun happened in a strange way. As a struggling actor, you meet many other struggling actors. I do remember Sidney Poitier as an actor you meet making the rounds, when you’re both quite broke. I recall sharing a hot dog with Sidney, because neither one of us could afford to have a whole one by yourself. He had come to study for a while where I was teaching. I was teaching with Paul Mann at his actor’s workshop. I assisted him for quite a while, and then began to teach with him and Sidney came. He said to me one day, “If I ever do a major Broadway show, I want you to direct it.” That’s something said in the middle of the night — which would have been over a beer if you could afford one, but it only was fantasy or an aspect of a dream. And some dreams come true. I remember getting a call from Sidney, which was at a time when Sidney had begun to make it, he was making films. That’s the difference between Sidney and I. Sidney was six feet-something tall — a thin, attractive man. He could play leading roles. I was always a character man and had to accept the fact that my future was in the future, that I would probably get to do some of the roles that I had done in college when I got to be 62 or 70 years old, or whatever. I was short. I wouldn’t say that I was unattractive, no one would say that. I guess I had a certain amount of charm. But there were no roles for young character black people at that time. Sidney had gone ahead and made it, and I was teaching and doing what I could do to stay alive in the theater. That’s what I found. I have to stay alive in it. That’s why I went back to directing, and I did all the other things that I could do, as well as act Off-Broadway.