For so many actors, one of the most important goals is just to keep working, and thanks to NBC's The Blacklist, stage and screen star Harry Lennix has been pretty busy for the last several years. "It's been a blessing," he told me during our full Collider Connected interview. "I'm grateful for the job. And I like the job, in addition to being grateful."

For eight seasons, Lennix has played the key supporting role of Harold Cooper on the crime thriller series, who we first meet as the head of an FBI counterterrorism division, but has evolved over the years into a complicated figure whose relationships with master criminal Red Reddington (James Spader) and profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone) are constantly evolving.

"Cooper doesn't have a whole lot of screen time relative to some of the other characters, but what's there is of substance and dense in its own way," he says. "I kind of feel that Cooper is sort of a black hole in a way that he allows other people to be in orbit around him, but I'm holding a kind of center, which has been very interesting."

While some shows, after eight seasons and over 150 episodes, might seem close to ending their run, Lennix doesn't necessarily think that's the case for The Blacklist. "There have been shows where I couldn't wait to have them done," he said. "But not this. I hope it goes for, you know, another 12 seasons."

After all, he added, "one of my favorite shows of all time, if not my very favorite show is Gunsmoke. That went on, I think, for 20 seasons. So why not? You know that the criminals aren't going to stop coming, right? These guys are infinitely inventive with, you know, the weirdos that they create for The Blacklist. So, sure, yeah, I love it."

He does think that the writers have an endgame for the series — but he doesn't know what it is, because he's the sort of actor who doesn't like to know what's coming before his character does, and also he suspects that it might have changed since the show's beginnings. "Let's just say they knew it was going to end after Season 3. I think that that would have been a different end than it would be now," he said. "I don't have any reason to think that, but I do. I think that as the show has lived, and as they've created other characters in it, and other intrigues to follow... I think it has evolved and I and it's gotten more stable and better."

Beyond getting to explore the character of Cooper across so many episodes, Lennix is grateful for how The Blacklist has not only taught him about the business of television, but the opportunities he's gotten in other arenas. Lennix has an extensive theater background, and right now he's in progress on the Lillian Marcie Center, a complex a la New York's Lincoln Center that would bring compelling theater works to Chicago's South Side.

In the interview above, Lennix goes into detail about his plans for the center, including what it means to be developing a project devoted to theater in an era when people can't actually go to the theater safely right now. He also digs into so many other facets of his fascinating career, including:

• The fact that he has shot all the footage needed to confirm that his Man of Steel character, Calvin Swanwick, will in fact appear in the upcoming Zack Snyder's Justice League — and reveal his true identity as Martian Manhunter.
• What it was like acting against green screen in projects like Justice League and The Matrix sequels.
• His experience working on Julie Taymor's incredibly wild adaptation of Titus, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.
• How Titus ended up being the reason why he missed out on the opportunity to play Dr. Peter Benton on ER, the character ultimately played by Eriq La Salle for so many seasons.
• Why, despite that, he doesn't mind missing out on ER.
• The way he approached the character of Boyd on Fox's Dollhouse after Joss Whedon revealed a massive twist three episodes before the end of the series.
• His future plans in addition to The Blacklist, including producing films for the faith-based community.

Check out the full Collider Connected interview with Lennix above, as well as recent installments with Jason Isaacs and Colman Domingo. The Blacklist Season 8 returns with new episodes Friday, January 22 at 8 PM.