He has worked with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and with film directors such as Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli.
[2] Lawson's portrayals in films include Bernardo in Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Alec d'Urberville in Tess (1979).
He played the leading role as Alan Lomax in the television drama series Travelling Man (1984–85), and guest starred in television series such as The Duchess of Duke Street (1976), Disraeli (1978), Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde (1982), The Ray Bradbury Theatre (1988) and Silent Witness (2005–2007).
He met the actress Hayley Mills in 1975, when they performed in London's West End in A Touch of Spring; the following year, they had a son.
In 1988, they both worked in the film Madame Sousatzka and were married on 23 September that year, in Tony Walton's back yard in Sag Harbor, Long Island.