Working: How Actor Blair Underwood Gets Inside His Characters’ Heads

Slate Culture

This week host Isaac Butler talks to actor Blair Underwood about performing for the stage and screen. In the interview, Blair talks about landing a role on the legal drama L.A. Law when he was still an undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon. He also explains how he prepares for roles and how he gets in the right mindset to play tormented characters.

After the interview, Isaac and co-host Rumaan Alam discuss the mysterious craft of acting.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Blair tells the story of the time he found himself sitting next to Sidney Poitier on a flight from New York to L.A.

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [e-mail] or give us a call at [phone].

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now to help support our work.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices