Here's Why Blair Underwood Turned Down His First Chance To Be On 'Sex and the City'

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | July 25, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Celebrity | July 25, 2024 |

I’m going to write something that may shock and astound you if you’ve never watched a movie or television show before. You may be caught off guard if you have never gone outside. Those born before 1970 may recoil in surprise at what I am about to tell you: Black people are often misrepresented in media.

As you may or may not be able to tell, I was being sarcastic. Everyone should know that Black people fall victim to stereotypes regularly. Their roles in film and television are often reduced to being about their race. They are forced to be “magical” or “thuggish” or all manner of insulting cliché. In reality, we just want to be. Black people have just as much a right to play normal folks as anyone else.

Blair Underwood is no stranger to this issue. The actor has been working in the industry for almost forty years. He has had stereotypes forced upon him but has also had the wherewithal to turn such roles down. That was the case when he was offered a role on Sex and the City. “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 explained to the 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.’”

Not all actors can afford to turn down roles, especially those on a hit show like Sex and the City. Underwood was in a fortunate position, but it’s still wonderful that he refused to be used in such a way. While he hadn’t watched the show, he “knew it was a big hit.” Underwood avoided playing a role he wasn’t comfortable with, but he did wind up on the show eventually.

The people at SatC would offer Underwood another role, and he had a fair question when approached. “Well, is it gonna be about race?” he asked them. “And they said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonna mention race!’” Even though that wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, the change was enough for Blair. “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.

Years later, Underwood looks back on the role fondly, saying, “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. 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.”

Not only was the experience good, but Underwood had nothing but nice things to say about his scene partner, Cynthia Nixon. He mentioned that the actress, “could not have been sweeter.” He recalled hearing from her as soon as he joined the show, “‘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.’ She’s just such a sweetheart, and she’s always been that type of person.”

Standing up for yourself isn’t always easy. But that can make it even more rewarding when it pays off.