Blair Underwood revealed a secret about his role in “Sex and the City.”
The actor, 61, explained that years before he played sports medicine physician Dr. Robert Leeds on the hit HBO series, he was offered a role as Samantha Jones’ (Kim Cattrall) Black boyfriend, but he turned down the job because he felt uncomfortable with his character’s storyline.
“Kim Cattrall’s character, Samantha, had a storyline where she had a curiosity about Black men and Black men’s anatomy, and she wanted to know if it was true,” Underwood said on the “Q with Tom Power” show.
“The producers reached out and invited me on the show,” Underwood continued. “I’m always grateful when anyone thinks of me. I don’t take that lightly or for granted. I said, ‘Thank you very much, but I’m gonna pass.’”
The “24” alum added: “The reason I passed — I didn’t say this to them at the time — was I did not want to be a curiosity and play that type of character.”
Underwood said that two years later producers approached him again, but this time to play Miranda Hobbes’ (Cynthia Nixon) love interest.
‘I said, ‘Well, is he the Black guy, is he the curiosity of these characters, or can he just be a human being that falls in love?’” Underwood recalled. “And they said, ‘No, no it’s the latter. We’re not even gonna really deal with race. But you’re allowed to be a human being.’”
“And it worked out and I loved it,” Underwood said. “I’m glad I did, because I almost said no. It’s amazing. People remember it to this day. It was remarkable.”
“But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had that conversation with producers along the way, to say, ‘What is your vision of this character? And are you going to allow me to be a full-fledged, well-rounded human being in character?’”
Underwood appeared in multiple episodes of “Sex and the City” Season 6 in 2003, playing Dr. Leeds who dates Miranda after moving into her building.
Last year, Underwood told the A.V. Club that Nixon, 59, “could not have been sweeter” when they worked together.
“When I was cast in the role, she and all the other girls were doing a scene on the set, apparently. 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,’” Underwood recalled.
“She’s just such a sweetheart,” he added, “and she’s always been that type of person.”