And just like that, the Sex and the City cast is spilling all! After ten highly anticipated episodes of HBO Max’s And Just Like That, Carrie Bradshaw and her SATC cohorts have ushered in a new era of their New York-based lives as postmenopausal women — and are reflecting on season 1.
The revival, which premiered in December 2021, made headlines after it was previously confirmed that the new episodes would star Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt) living their best NYC lives. However, Kim Cattrall — who played Samantha Jones in the original series and both feature films — did not return after rumors of a previous set feud with the 56-year-old Hocus Pocus star.
“I knew Kim had moved on from playing Samantha,” Michael Patrick King explained in And Just Like That … The Documentary, which premiered on Thursday, February 3. “I realized, ‘Oh, we can have them mirror a split that people already know, but make it really Carrie and Samantha and heartfelt, the way you lose friends.’”
The 65-year-old How I Met Your Father star’s absence was explained in the first episode, with Carrie revealing that the twosome had a falling out after she fired Samantha as her book publicist amid new challenges in the publishing industry. Samantha, for her part, later relocated to London and didn’t keep in touch with her longtime friends.
“I understand that she was upset, but I thought I was more to her than an ATM,” Carrie told Miranda in the premiere. “I always thought the four of us would be friends forever.”
While Cattrall did not appear in the new show, her character briefly connected with Carrie via a series of text messages after the death of the sex columnist’s husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Samantha also sent an elaborate floral arrangement for his memorial.
“I think it’s handled very nicely and it’s very gently peppered,” Parker said, briefly touching on how the revival addressed the Canada native’s absence in Thursday’s documentary special.
“And Just Like That was never, ever intended to be including Kim Cattrall because she decided she didn’t wanna play Samantha many, many years ago. We love Kim. I love Kim. I loved her Samantha, and I knew that everybody, including myself, had invested years in those four friendships,” showrunner Michael Patrick King previously told Us Weekly and other reporters in December 2021. “So, I didn’t want to pretend that there was an absence — or wasn’t an absence. I wanted to reflect the reality of the fact that there was one not joining. Story wise, I came up with the idea that Samantha’s in London because we didn’t want to kill her. We love Samantha. That’s ridiculous.”
Ahead of the doc’s premiere, a trailer made headlines after seemingly cutting an appearance from Noth in the wake of his sexual assault scandal. The Equalizer alum, 67, was not referenced in the documentary at all after several women publicly accused him of assault late last year. Noth’s AJLT finale scenes were also cut.
The Wisconsin native, for his part, has continually denied the allegations.
“The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth previously told Us via a statement. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.”
And Just Like That … The Documentary is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
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