Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood
Blair Erwin Underwoodis an American television, film, and stage actor and director. He played headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law for seven years. He has received two Golden Globe Award nominations, three NAACP Image Awards and one Grammy Award. In recent years, he has appeared as Andrew Garner on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The New Adventures of Old Christine, Dirty Sexy Money and In Treatment and was in NBC's The Event...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth25 August 1964
CityTacoma, WA
CountryUnited States of America
To be still standing 20 years in this business is a great feeling, I can't even tell you.
I haven't done a great deal of it but this was a chance to do more and bring it to that part of the business and even more so, but the fact that it was a black superhero was really the catalyst to me.
It's really hard, when you have a heavy workload, because it just really pulls you out of your life. It's nice to have some balance. I get to work and enjoy that part of me, but then I have time to have a life and be with my kids.
It's a music video but she was real specific on the character that Mary J. Blige was playing, and that I was playing in this video and I told her whenever you get to jump to the big screen I'd love to come with you and she honored that.
It could be a great script but the director is not the right person for me to work for at this time. So there are a lot of elements that come into play and a lot of variables, but more than anything it's got to be a great script and a great character.
In terms of the black female audience, usually if you're true to that character but more so in your body of work if you've proven that you love your sisters and you proven you will come back home like in 42.4% they'll give you a pass when you jump ship. I hear it all the time.
It's just different discipline, just doing the voice over. I guess I've done about 5 or 6 audio books in the past and I do the animated voice for a show called Fatherhood on Nickelodeon.
That is the thing I'm most grateful for in this industry to be able to spin in those different mediums, with television, film and the stage - at this stage of the game.
Our deal always was that we did one as scripted always, we got it like we thought we needed - so we were all happy with it as written. Then I'd let him play as long as we had time.
Sex in the City was a different kind of phenomenon because of the show itself is a phenomenon and to me that's successful because to resonate with women across the board for six years and have only one African-American actor pass through for one episode.
Two packed houses. I guess the theater sat 2,700 people every night so it was an amazing experience.
My son had his eighth birthday recently and we had a chance to borrow the film and show it to all of his friends that was at his birthday party and they loved it. I was a little nervous. I said they might not even like it, and say his daddy's movie is wack, but they loved it.
Its really a luck of the draw or fate or destiny, whatever you want to call it, but you dont know if youre going to resonate with people or not.
I think one of the most difficult challenges in show business is the challenge of longevity and to constantly realize and reveal what's already been there - like doing stage and singing and dancing in New York. I haven't been that far out of my comfort zone in a while.