Samantha speaks! Kim CattrallIs sharing information about her lasting legacy Sex and the City — and her absence from the And Just Like That reboot.
The actress, 65 years old, opened up about her career in a new interview VarietyProfile published Wednesday, May 4, reflecting on her SATCExperience and beyond. While discussing fans’ disappointment that Samantha didn’t return for the HBO Max series — which featured OG cast members Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia NixonAnd Kristin Davis — Cattrall said it was “a great compliment” to be missed.
“I’ve played so many different kinds of characters, you think — why that character? Why? It was a time coming out of AIDS and making sex positive again,” she told the publication. “There were so many parallels of me growing as an actor and that character. I wouldn’t want to look back at that with anything but pride. That I did that, that it existed.”
Cattrall confessed that “parts of [Samantha] are with me” years after the original series ended in 2004. “I played her, and I loved her. I felt ultimately protective of her,” she continued.
The follow-up to the ’90s hit was confirmed in January 2021, with Parker, 57, sharing a photo of herself, Nixon, 56, and Davis, 57, via Instagram. Cattrall’s absence raised eyebrows among fans — and reminded longtime viewers of the star’s messy history with Parker. Showrunner Michael Patrick KingLater, it will be told The Hollywood Reporter that Samantha wasn’t part of the conversation.
“It never was on the radar as four because Kim Cattrall, for whatever reason, didn’t want to play Samantha anymore while we were doing the [third] movie,” he said as And Just Like ThatIt premiered in December 2021. “I never thought, ‘Oh, there’s a hole I have to fill.’ Samantha doesn’t not exist in their lives. [And Just Like That] was born of these three characters: What’s their life, and who can I bring in to inform it?”
While talking with VarietyThe Filthy Rich star claimed she was “never asked to be part of the reboot,” adding, “I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie, so I found out about it like everyone else did — on social media.”
Though it’s now one of her most iconic roles, Cattrall recalled turning down the part of Samantha multiple times before finally signing on to the original series. “I turned it down three times. I didn’t think I could do it. At 42, I really didn’t think I could pull it off,” she said. “I finally said, ‘You’re making a mistake here.’ We did the pilot — it was good but it wasn’t there. It started to find its way. I realized, because I’d never done a series before, the more you play the character, like in theater, the more you add to it and change.”
The Golden Globe winner spoke about her experience with SATC was “amazing,” but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to return to the role. Instead, she’s focusing on Hulu’s How I Met Your FatherThe film debuted in January. She plays the narrator — an older version of Hilary Duff‘s character — and was the creators’ first pick for the job.
“Once you have Kim … you have to show Kim,” Elizabeth BergerOnly spoken Us Weeklyearlier in the year. “You could just feel [it]It was obvious that everyone on set was excited when she arrived. And we think that viewers are also really, really going to love what she does with the role.”
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