ROMANCING MANHATTAN
Blair Underwood has a new gig on HBO’s Sex & The City
SEX & THE CITY HAS A BRAND-NEW HEARTTHROB.
Adding to the show’s exclusive list of handsome lovers, Blair
Underwood forges a red-hot romance, bringing matinee idol
charisma to the Big Apple and to one of television’s most
acclaimed and groundbreaking shows.
“[Sex & The City] is all an education to me,” says Underwood.
“It’s my wife’s favorite show, but I had only watched it a couple of
times. When this opportunity came down the pike and I started
telling people I was doing the show and I saw their reactions, I
realized I was stepping into something bigger than I knew. It’s been a
great experience.”
In addition to Sex & The City, he voices the lead character in Nick
at Nite’s first animated series, Fatherhood, based on Bill Cosby’s bestselling
book. “It’s a feelgood, uplifting, positive family show like
Cosby. Plus, it’s funny. My kids were just excited that Daddy was
going to work at Nickelodeon.”
He also just finished starring in the independent film How Did It
Feel? and is gearing up to perform his oneman show, IM4. “It stands
for ‘I am for peace, brotherhood, sisterhood, tolerance’…it begs the
question what are you for?”
Voted one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” in 2000
and one of TV Guide’s most influential faces of the ‘90s, he got his first
break his second day in New York with a part on the The Cosby Show.
He did a year on the soap opera One Life to Live, then spent the next
seven years on LA Law the television show that made him a star. “I
learned quickly that to be fulfilled creatively,
to have staying power, longevity
comes from being behind the scenes. If
you own the show or produce it, it just makes sense.
So I approached LA Law as if it was a paid education.
Instead of going back to my trailer, I started
hanging around the set and asking questions.”
Indeed, Underwood has gone on to produce, direct, and star in
many projects, including the independent thriller Asunder. He went
on to do more television and film, most notably City Of Angels for
CBS and the films Set It Off, Rules of Engagement, Malibu’s Most Wanted,
and the underrated Full Frontal, costarring Julia Roberts.
Underwood is reminiscent of classic movie stars like Cary Grant
and Gregory Peck. He’s a natural leading man — not just handsome,
but also thoughtful and attentive, with a great sense of humor.
He recites to me a wonderful spokenword piece he performed in
Full Frontal about what it’s like to be a black actor in Hollywood. He
says what he likes about that movie and Sex & The City is that “they
allowed my character to be a man in all his humanity — not minus
his sexuality.”
When I ask about the key to his enduring popularity he says,
“It’s so easy to sell your soul or sell out or cop out, and what it
really comes down to is choices.If you have some kind of game
plan, or at least a faith in your ability, it doesn’t matter if this town
validates you or not because you’re already validated by your
gifts. I just try to stay focused on what I have to offer.”
And to his fans eagerly watching his
Sex & The City debut, what he has to
offer is a lot.
By Ally Dawson
Photograph by Jessica Silverstein
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