Blair Underwood has revealed he put his foot down when being cast for Sex and the City.
According to Complex, Underwood spoke on Netflix’s Strong Black Lead revealing his discomfort with Samantha wanting to date a Black man just for sex.
He said:
“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.’”
Underwood admitted that he was tokenized in his earlier film roles.
However, he wanted to play characters who “encompasses everything.”
He said:
“Not just your race, not just your gender, not just your profession, not just your nationality, but everything that you are.”
Blair Underwood Decided He Wouldn’t Be A Token Character
Blair Underwood revealed that he rejected the token role.
However, the Sex and The City team returned a year later with a different character.
Underwood’s first question was:
“Well, is it gonna be about race?”
The answer they gave was:
“They said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not even gonna mention race.’ 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 added:
“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.”
The episode with Samantha dating a Black man was SO CRINGE and full of racist tropes.
— Aisha Alexander-Young (@AishaThinker) July 25, 2024
and
I can so see Samantha and hear her all over this would’ve been episode Chile ????
Per @Variety — Blair Underwood turned down his first “Sex and the City” offer because “it was about how Samantha was fascinated by dating a Black man. She wanted to know if the rumors were true”… pic.twitter.com/BTRQQi9x1k
— BROWN GIRL GRINDING⭐️ (@LorenLorosa) July 25, 2024
He spoke about this back in 2020:
When I tell y’all that I can listen to @BlairUnderwood talk for hours…
Did you know that he turned down his role in “Set It Off” the first time it came his way? And yes, he def turned down that role in “Sex and the City” the first time too. ????
LISTEN????????https://t.co/Df66EnU4f5 pic.twitter.com/3vVzrcaCPL
— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) March 24, 2020
