Blair Underwood On Why He Initially Turned Down ‘Sex And The City’ Role: “I Just Don’t Want To Play A Character Based On Race, On Curiosity About A Black Man”
deadline.comBlair Underwood reflected on his career and recalled his first offer to guest star on Sex and the City, which he ultimately turned down.
In a new interview, the Longlegs actor opened up about the role he was asked to portray in the HBO series. “The first time they had offered the role, to be honest with you, it was about how Samantha was fascinated by dating a Black man and wanted to know if, uh, all of the rumors were true about our anatomy!” Underwood said in an interview with AV Club. “And I said, ‘Listen, I’m honored, thank you, but I just don’t want to play a character based on race, on curiosity about a Black man.'” Underwood said that he had “never watched” the show before he was approached to appear opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, and Kim Cattrall but “knew it was a big hit.” The actor would end up guest starring on in the series as a romantic love interest to Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes in the role of Dr.
Robert Leeds. When the Sex and the City team approached Underwood for the role, he asked them, “Well, is it gonna be about race?
And they said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonna mention race!'” “And I think it really did only come up maybe once. I did five episodes, and I think Samantha mentioned it once, saying something about ‘a Black doctor’ that Miranda was dating,” Underwood said. “And that’s really been a consistent thing in my career: not wanting to be boxed as ‘the Black guy.’ I’ve had that conversation with many producers along the way, and they were so great.
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