Between his work on three different TV shows, raising a family and promoting various charitable causes, Holly says Blair Underwood is one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood! Holly and Rodney talk with Blair about his work on the TV shows The New Adventures of Old Christine, Dirty Sexy Money and In Treatment, and they get the scoop on his personal life and passions.
Blair says his 14-year marriage to his wife, Desiree, and raising their three children, are his top priorities. "We work together as much as possible, [and] we travel together as a family all the time," Blair says. When he is on the set of a movie or a TV show, Blair says he always brings his family with him or goes home to see them every other day. He even wrote a book with his children in mind, Before I Got Here: The Wondrous Things We Hear When We Listen to the Souls of Our Children.
While his family is his rock, Blair says he takes his career seriously as well and has a standard he follows before accepting a role. He says he only accepts roles if they are "colorblind" and never takes roles if they revolve solely around the dynamics of an interracial relationship. "If it is about that, I would rather not do it," he says. "[I say,] 'I am humbled and honored, thank you, but I'd rather not.'" Many of the roles he's taken were not written specifically with a black man in mind, and Blair says he hopes producers will continue to recognize him for his acting abilities first and his race second.
Giving to others is also a big part of Blair's life, and he's supported many charities over the years. He says he's especially proud of his work with Artists for a New South Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering democracy in South Africa. "We always, in this business, have a camera in our face and a microphone. Why not use it to keep that attention on that country?" he says.
