Manolo Blahniks, cosmopolitans and…face masks? Maybe so! Sarah Jessica Parker says the new Sex and the City series will tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
During a Friday interview with Vanity Fair, the actress dropped a big hint about And Just Like That, the HBO Max series that revisits Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, Kristen Davis as Charlotte York-Goldenblatt and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in their 50s. Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha Jones, did not sign on for the 10-episode show, having outgrown the franchise.
Parker revealed that the plot will address the coronavirus pandemic, now with 29.5 million positive cases in the U.S. When the pandemic started in March, New York City was hit particularly hard. The crisis will “obviously be part of the storyline, because that’s the city [these characters] live in,” Parker, 55, told the outlet. “And how has that changed relationships once friends disappear? I have great faith that the writers are going to examine it all.”
Parker first announced the revival on Jan. 10 with an Instagram teaser captioned with her character’s catchphrase: “I couldn’t help but wonder… where are they now?”
The HBO show, which aired from 1998 to 2004 and inspired two films in 2008 and 2010, will follow the women, now in their 50s. In the last film, which is based in Abu Dhabi, Carrie and Mr. Big (played by Chris Noth) were happily married, despite Carrie’s run-in with ex-fiancé Aiden Shaw, Charlotte and husband Harry Goldenblatt have two children, Miranda and Steve had coped with his extramarital affair and Samantha, having broken up with actor Smith Jerrod, was single and swinging.
“I think that Cynthia, Kristin, and I are all excited about the time that has passed,” Parker told Vanity Fair. “You know, who are they in this world now? Have they adapted? What part have they played? Where have they fallen short as women, as friends, and how are they finding their way? Did they move with momentum? Are they like some people who are confused, threatened, nervous [by what’s happening in the world]? I’m so curious and excited to see how the writers imagine these women today.”
The passing of time brings changes. “What is their relationship to social media? What has changed?” Parker added, “What is their life like? For Carrie, who doesn’t have family beyond her friendships, where is she professionally? How have all of these political changes affected her work? Is she still writing a column? Has she written any more books? Or does she have a podcast? What does fashion mean to her now? How have the friendships changed or not changed, and has her social circle grown?”
Earlier this month, Parker addressed a glaring question about the highly-anticipated series: The absence of Cattrall. When an Instagram fan commented on reports that the pair “dislike each other,” Parker wrote back: “No. I don’t dislike her. I’ve never said that. Never would. Samantha isnt [sic] part of this story. But she will always be part of us. No matter where we are or what we do.”
Back in 2017, Cattrall said of her cast mates, “We’ve never been friends” adding, “They all have children and I am 10 years older, and since, specifically, the series ended, I have been spending most of my time outside of New York, so, I don’t see them.”
Later, when asked about Cattrall’s stance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Parker said she was “heartbroken” and “I found it very upsetting because that’s not the way I recall our experience.”
Cattrall also slammed reports that she backed out of a third Sex and the City film over salary disputes. “It’s quite extraordinary to get any kind of negative press about something that I’ve been saying for almost a year of ‘no,’ that I’m demanding or a diva,” she told BBC journalist Piers Morgan in 2017. “And this is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker, in that I think she could have been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is, I never have.”
While fans can put to rest any hopes for a Carrie-Samantha reconciliation, the fate of Carrie and Big is unknown. According to Us Weekly, when an Instagram user asked for an update on Carrie’s long-term love, Parker wrote, “Wait and see.”
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