Blair Underwood participated in a career retrospective interview with the AV Club and remembered turning down the first offer he got to join HBO’s “Sex and the City.” Underwood would go on to play Dr. Robert Leeds, a brief romantic love interest for Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), during the show’s sixth and final season. However, that was not the character first offered to Underwood.
“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.'”
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According to Underwood, the “Sex and the City” team accepted his rejection and then called back a year later with another offer to star on the comedy series. The first thing Underwood said to the team was, “Well, is it gonna be about race?”
“They said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonnamentionrace!'” Underwood continued. “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. 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.”
Dr. Robert Leeds, the character Underwood ended up playing on the show, was a man who lived in the same apartment complex as Miranda. They had a brief romance until Miranda broke things off because she was still in love with Steve.
“Cynthia Nixon could not have been sweeter, and when I was cast in the role, she and all the other girls were doing a scene on the set, apparently,” Underwood said. “I was in Los Angeles, they were in New York, and she called me. I’d never met her — I never knew any of them — but she 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.”
Underwood did not disclose what season of “Sex and the City” he was originally offered. There is a polarizing episode in the show’s third season, “No Ifs, Ands, or Butts” (Episode 5), where Samantha dates a Black man whose sister does not condone their interracial relationship.
Head over to the AV Club’s website to read more from Underwood’ career retrospective interview.
