Blair Underwood On Why He 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”

Blair Underwood reflected on his career and recalled his first offer to guest star on Sex and the City, which he ultimately turned down.

Blair Underwood is looking back on his iconic cameo on Sex and the City, and the role he turned down before that one.

In a new interview with The AV Club, Underwood revealed why he actually turned down the first offer he received to guest star on the hit 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 shared. “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.'”

The Set It Off star said that he had “never watched” the show before he was approached to appear on SATC opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, and Kim Cattrall but “knew it was a big hit.”

He would ultimately end up saying yes to a second offer, however, guest starring in the role of Dr. Robert Leeds as a romantic love interest to Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes.

When the Sex and the City team approached Underwood for this second 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,” he explained. “They said, ‘No, he’s just a doctor who Miranda meets in the elevator, and they have a nice little fling.’ And it was amazing.”

It’s perhaps the most memorable relationship Miranda had on the original HBO series, outside of her romance with Steve — who she goes on to leave Robert for — after realizing the pair are meant to be.

While their on-screen romance fell flat, Underwood noted that Nixon, “could not have been sweeter,” telling the outlet that when he was cast in the role, she and the cast called him and said, “We just wanted to call you and tell you that we heard you got cast, we’re all so excited you’re joining the show, and we just wanted to say welcome to the show when you get here.'”

He added, “She’s just such a sweetheart, and she’s always been that type of person.”

As for Underwood making a cameo in the SATC spinoff, And Just Like That… well, it seems unlikely, with *spoiler alert* Miranda leaving Steve on the Max series for nonbinary comedian Che Diaz, only to find herself single and exploring her sexuality by the end of Season 2.

Season 3 of And Just Like That… is expected to hit the streamer in 2025.

via: TooFab

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