Blair Underwood rides a new "Streetcar"

(CBS News) In the 1951 film "A Streetcar Named Desire," Marlon Brando played Stanley Kowalski, the role he created on the Broadway stage four years earlier. Now, as Rita Braver tells us, a new "Streetcar" - and a new Stanley - have arrived on Broadway:

"I'm a firm believer in you just gotta go for it, and let the chips fall where they may," said Blair Underwood.

He has been going for it for more than a quarter of a century.

We first got to know him in 1987 as Jonathan Rollins, the brash young associate on the hit series "L.A. Law."

Since then he's had scores of roles in television and film, playing everything from doctors to patients, soldiers to thugs . . . and even a president.

But now he's taking on one of the most iconic roles in American theater: Stanley in the Tennessee Williams play, "A Streetcar Named Desire."

"I'm nervous and I'm scared, therefore I'm more excited than I have ever been in a long time," Underwood said.

That was clear just walking outside the theater with him; it was clear when he proudly showed us around the set: "Welcome to our home - the home of Stella and Stanley, in the French Quarter in New Orleans."

Underwood (who keeps a photo of his friend and mentor, the actor Sydney Poitier in his dressing room) has long dreamed of playing Stanley.

"There's so much to mine and excavate," he said. "All the riches in these words."

And he's about to make theater history. It's the first multi-cultural production of "Streetcar" to run on Broadway. And along with the usual class distinctions, there's another stark contrast here between Stanley and the two main female characters - his wife, Stella and her Sister, Blanche du Bois, the faded southern vamp.

"So you have that aesthetic on the stage, these two light-complected women, this one married this dark-complected man, Stanley. And there's a sense of looking down on this man just based on that, purely based on that."

Underwood says that doesn't excuse, but helps explain Stanley's violent side.

When asked whether it was more fun for him to play a good guy or a bad guy, Under wood said, "Oh, a bad guy's always better to play! Bad guy's always better!" he laughed.

But Blair was a good guy growing up, so beloved in Petersburg, Va., where he went to high school that a whole busload of fans came to wish him well on the play, including his father, a retired Army colonel.

"We were raised to carry ourselves with that understanding that when you walk out this door, you represent your family name, you represent the United States Army, you represent your country," Blair said.

Underwood said he was four or five when he realized he wanted to be an actor: "It seemed like such a cool thing to do, that they would actually pay you to be on TV, they would pay you to be in the movies," he said. "Everybody I knew wanted to be on TV, so I figured if they paid me, that's what I gotta do."

He studied acting at Carnegie Mellon, but left to try his luck in show business - and got lucky. Shortly after arriving in New York he got a walk-on role on "The Cosby Show." "Yeah, trust me, I couldn't have planned it that way," he said.

And he was just 21 when his real break came: "L.A. Law," the top-rated show on television.

"I was young and dumb, making money and single," he said. "See, that's why I can be happily married now, 'cause I have no regrets."

He and Desiree DaCosta have been married 15 years and have three children.

"I'm glad I found the right person, 'cause that's, as you know, more than half the battle, choosing the right person."

It was his wife, he says, who talked him into playing a more recent high-profile role: Dr. Robert Leeds, Miranda's love interest, in the final season of "Sex and the City."

At 47, along with acting, Underwood produces, writes, and even has a line of clothing coming out. But there's no getting around the fact that a lot of the interest in him, even in "Streetcar," stems from his very good looks.

"Do you think that this heartthrob thing over the years has worked to your advantage, or has it been something where you've had to convince people that there's more to you than a very handsome man?" Braver asked.

"That's a trick question when you word it like that!" he laughed. "You know, when people perceive you in a certain way, ultimately, it's a beautiful thing. I mean the upside, trust me, far outweighs the down side. So I'll take the upside any day.

"And then, you know, when something like this comes along, you can use that and still have colors and depth and the textures that a great character - straight so-called character stuff - that you like to work with as an actor."

He knows that his performance in "Streetcar" will be rated against some giants in the theater - Alec Baldwin, Anthony Quinn, and especially Marlon Brando, who created the role.

But Blair Underwood says he can't let that worry him.

"It's subjective," he said. "So some people will like it. Some people won't like it. And you just gotta, again, let the chips fall where they may and just go on about your business - just keep groovin' on down the line," he laughed.

For more info:

• "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Official website)