*Blair Underwood explained in a new interview why he chose not to join “Sex and the City” three seasons before he was cast as Dr. Robert Leeds.
According to IndieWire, Underwood revealed to the A.V. Club that he initially declined a role in an earlier season involving Kim Cattrall’s character dating a Black man. According to Vulture, this was the Season 3, Episode 5, titled “No Ifs, Ands, or Butts.”
Underwood later joined the show during Season 6 in 2003 as sports medicine physician Dr. Robert Leeds, who becomes Miranda’s (Cynthia Nixon) boyfriend.
“I actually did say ‘no’ the first time,” Underwood said. “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! 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.’”
Years later, when producers offered him the role once again, Underwood asked if the storyline would “be about race.”
Scroll to continue reading
“They said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonna mention race!’” Underwood said.
“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,” he continued. “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.”
After Underwood joined the series, he said Nixon called him up 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.’ She’s just such a sweetheart, and she’s always been that type of person.”
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: 50 Cent and Drake Talk TV in ‘Brainstorming’ Session
