Blair Underwood on why he turned down first ‘SATC’ offer: ‘It was about how Samantha was fascinated by a Black man’

Blair Underwood is opening up about his time on the hit HBO show “Sex and the City.”

The actor, 59, revealed in an interview with the A.V. Club that he was offered a role on the series a year before he appeared as Miranda Hobbs’ boyfriend and neighbor Dr. Robert Leeds. Underwood explained that he turned down the initial offer because it was about Samantha’s interest in dating a man of another race and her curiosity about his “anatomy.”

“I knew it was a big hit, but I’d never watched it… and I actually did say ‘no’ the first time,” Underwood said about his first offer from the show.

“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.’”

Underwood went to share that “Sex and the City” producers called him back about a year later to offer him the role of Dr. Leeds. 

“I said, ‘Well, is it gonna be about race?’ And they said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonna mention race!’” he continued. “And I think it really did only come up maybe once. It 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.’”

Underwood revealed in the interview that he’s had to have conversations about race with “many producers” during the course of his career, adding that the “Sex and the City” production team was “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,” Underwood concluded. 

Known for his roles in movies and TV shows like “Set It Off” and “L.A. Law,” Underwood most recently appeared in the hit horror film “Longlegs.” Next up, he will star in Starz’ drama series “Three Women,” which will premiere on the network on Sept. 13.