If there's one person who had a great year on and off the big screen, it's Phylicia Rashad.

Not only has the Houston native, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom 'The Cosby Show,' starred in an acclaimed Broadway show's successful tour in London earlier this year, she also widened her visibility with roles opposite today's biggest black movie stars in films such as 'Just Wright,' 'For Colored Girls' and 'Frankie and Alice.'

To some, Rashad's heightened profile is seen as a career renaissance, but she says otherwise.

"I haven't thought of it like that. I just do the work," she said during an interview with BlackVoices.com last week. "I hadn't thought of it as a renaissance, some people may see it that way. To me it's all the same good work. I just continue to do it! "

When 'The Cosby Show' ended in 1992, Rashad continued to work with Cosby on the CBS series 'Cosby,' and on his animated series, 'Little Bill.' She credits the groundbreaking comedian for jump-starting her career.

"If you want to relate it to one specific work, it would be 'The Cosby Show,'" she pointed out. "I became known as an artist. The interesting thing about that is Mr. Cosby always understood and acknowledged me as an actress, but the rest of the industry saw me as Clair Huxtable. So there were projects I wouldn't be considered for."

"When 'The Cosby Show' ended, I didn't work at all for a year, then George Wolfe called me in as a replacement in the play 'Jelly's Last Jam,' and after that I didn't work for another year. Then Kenny Leon was directing Pearl Cleage's 'Blues for an Alabama Sky,' and Pearl and I had been classmates together at Howard University. They told me I had to go to Atlanta, and I did, and that began a longstanding working relationship. All this ties into work with Mr. Cosby. When Bernadette Peters was leaving Steven Sondheim's 'Into the Woods,' someone suggested Phylicia Rashad, and they asked, 'Does she sing?' Someone answered, 'Yeah, she does, she was in 'The Wiz,' she was in 'Dreamgirls,' yes she does sing." They cast me, but it was my work with Mr. Cosby that rendered me visible."

Having done numerous theater productions, it wasn't until she starred in the revival of 'Raisin in the Sun' that Rashad's career took a new direction. Her performance garnered the 2004 Tony Award for best actress in a play, and she became the first black actress to win that category in the history of theater.

In 2009, the divorced mother of two would star in another revival, Tennessee Williams' classic play 'A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' featuring an all-black cast with James Earl Jones, Terrence Howard, Giancarlo Esposito and Anika Noni Rose. Despite the fact that it was passed over by American Tony Award voters, the show, directed by her sister Debbie Allen, was a hit at the box office, and when it transferred to London earlier with year, it won the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for best revival of a play.

The reception overseas is not what Rashad, 62, had ever expected. "We were told that the London audience would be very quiet, very staid, and they weren't," she revealed. "It felt like we were in parliament sometimes. We were amazed. I mean "ooh, mmm, ahhs." They were very very vocal!"

When it comes to doing film, Rashad wasn't much of a presence in the past until this year. She got to work with Queen Latifah in 'Just Wright'; Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise and Anika Noni Rose again in Tyler Perry's 'For Colored Girls'; and with Oscar winner Halle Berry in 'Frankie & Alice.'

"I felt really privileged to be a part of all the projects that I've done this year. 'Just Wright' was absolute fun, a very light romance film. I was thrilled when I saw it, how beautiful it was. I did 'Frankie & Alice,' then came 'For Colored Girls.' I enjoyed them all, and each one was different because the nature of each film was different," she offered. "Everybody was great to work with, and they all have their own way of working. Because acting is a very personal art form. All art forms are, because it's individual expression."

"Halle is like a beautiful, rare bird, and you instinctively want to embrace and protect her when you meet her," Rashad shared. "I know I did. Halle did a courageous part, especially since it's based on someone she knows. Someone told her about this person and she met the person, did the story, and it took years to make."

Rashad is again working with Leon in Washington, D.C., starring in 'Every Tongue Confess.' After her run is over, she will head to Los Angeles to direct 'Raisin' in the Sun.'

"I've done this before, I directed August Wilson's 'Gem of the Ocean,' and it's very interesting for me to observe myself moving deeper into what is written," she said.

"It's a natural progression of work. You want to move closer to the heart of what the playwright is talking about. You discover different values and thoughts you can express, perspectives, points of view. I think that's why things become classic. The only reason to do a play that's been done before is to find something new in it."

With so much going on in her life, is there any chance of seeing Rashad back in a TV series?

"I do enjoy theater. I do enjoy film, and I was talking to a friend about television, and I said I could work in television again but the project would have to be very good because once you've worked with the very best -- Mr. Cosby, who is top-drawer all the way, his thinking, his aesthetic, the way things are organized, the way things move -- you know that's the way things are supposed to be."

Frankie & Alice is in theaters now.