Future of Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones revealed by And Just Like That creator
Sex and the City stars Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Sarah Jessica Parker attend the seventh Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, 2001. (Liaison / Chris Weeks)
The creator of the Sex and the City reboot And Just like That… has speculated on the possibility of Kim Cattrall’s character returning to the show and, well, it’s not great.
The arrival of And Just like That…, the 10-part HBO Max series, reignited reports over Sarah Jessica Parker’s long-running feud with co-star Cattrall.
Cattrall allegedly refused to take part in a third Sex and the City movie – “Thank you,” she told showrunners at the time, “but no, I’m good” – making it no surprise that she was absent in the 2021 revival.
But as much as And Just Like That… has introduced a slew of new characters, many people of colour, the casting hole left of the libidinous PR boss Samantha Jones has been deeply felt by fans.
In the show, Parker’s Carrie, Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda and Kristin Davis’ Charlotte are now estranged from Samantha – she had moved to London after falling out with the three. And, well, just like that, Samantha was gone.
Some fans have hoped that Jones would re-appear later down the line, but creator Michael Patrick King has vehemently said that, no, Cattrall will not be making a comeback.
Kim Cattrall. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
In a recent Variety interview, King all but shot down viewers’ optimism as he opened up about what happened during talks of a third film
“You have to look at the reality of something: You can literally not make an actress play a part,” the showrunner said.
King said he was left “disappointed” when Cattrall shrugged off the chance to reprise her role but tried to give fans closure with “sparing” glimmers of Samantha.
“It’s the power of writing,” he said. “It’s all make-believe. It’s all pretend!
“There is an obstacle: Kim Cattrall doesn’t want to do the series. What do you do with that? It’s a normal writing problem.”
Asked about her returning to the series, King replied bluntly: “No. Just like there was no thought that Kim would ever participate in And Just Like That…, because she’s said what she had said.
“The only place I participate in magical thinking is in fiction. You take people at their word, and you’re a smart producer – you don’t back yourself into a corner.
“Magically thinking, it’s great to have Samantha. I have no realistic expectation of Kim Cattrall ever appearing again.”
(HBO Max/WarnerBros)
It wasn’t surprising to King that he had to write Samantha out, given how Cattrall distanced herself from the franchise following the second movie.
“The idea of the [third] movie was really strong, and there was interest,” he explained. “And then all of a sudden it was impossible to get all four ladies to participate: Kim didn’t want to do the movie.
“Kim had finished playing Samantha, and despite conversations back and forth she just said: ‘Yeah, I don’t want to do this.’ So she pulled out, and I thought: ‘Well, then there’s no movie.'”
Despite the burned bridges, King said it was “important emotionally for everybody” that Samantha featured in And Just Like That in some way. Hence why the show immediately tackled her absence.
“Then I can do jokes about Brady’s semen, Miranda’s hair, etc,” King joked.
And Just like That struggled without Willie Garson – but is doing just fine without Chris Noth
The producers stumbled onto similar obstacles with the death of actor Willie Garson, who played the silver-tongued Stanford Blatch, and the allegations of sexual assault and rape against Chris Noth, who played Carrie’s on-again, off-again partner Mr Big.
King revealed that Garson passing away from pancreatic cancer last September meant the show had to be completely re-written.
“He was in all 10 episodes,” King said. “Before I knew that Willie was sick and couldn’t complete it, Stanford was going to have a midlife crisis.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth in Sex and the City. (Debra L Rothenberg/FilmMagic)
“Stanford’s character always had a borderline career as a managed, and we were, like, going to explore the fact that it wasn’t a real career.”
When discussing Noth, King sought to stress that the actor and the character are not the same person and that his character was even cut from the upcoming season finale.
The show, he said, was always about the women.
“I wanted the show to be focused on the stories of these amazing actresses and their efforts in these last 10 episodes,” he said. “And I didn’t want the entire story to be about whether someone was or wasn’t in the show.
“Mr Big and Chris Noth, they’re not the same person – and that would’ve made them the same person.”
