Everyone, including Sarah Jessica Parker, will be happy to hear that Kim Cattrall will return to And Just Like That..., the very strange, very watchable Sex and the City spin off, to reprise her role as Samantha Jones. Her presence is the missing shard that we hope will complete TV's most beloved foursome, or at least offer its audience some closure anyway. But as everyone sounds the alarms and rejoices that the show's sauciest character is reprising her role, I couldn't help but wonder: at what personal cost?
Variety broke the news, reporting that Kim Cattrall signed onto And Just Like That... for a single scene, in which Carrie and Samantha have a phone conversation. As those who tuned into the series will recall, season one ended with Carrie reaching out to Samantha via text, thus opening the lines of communication for the first time since the characters supposedly fell out after Carrie fired Samantha as her PR.
According to the Variety article, it took Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, approaching Cattrall directly for the actor to shift her stance and return to the series, if only momentarily. Cattrall recorded her lines for the phone scene on March 22 in New York City, away from any of the cast or even director Michael Patrick King. However, Patricia Field, the legendary costume designer behind all our favourite outfits on Sex and the City dressed Samantha for the scene, despite not working on the reboot due to scheduling conflicts with Emily in Paris.
The tension between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall became the centre of public conversation in the lead up to the premiere of And Just Like That. Cattrall made it clear when rumours were swirling about a third Sex and the City movie, that she would not take part as she felt the script didn't do her character justice. “I would have preferred for all of us to have some kind of event to warrant a third film. That didn’t happen," Cattrall explained to Variety in 2022.
So when the opportunity came to create a spinoff series, Cattrall says she wasn't contacted to take part.
In any case, Cattrall is not the only Sex and the City alum to rejoin the cast this season. John Corbett, the actor behind Carrie's "one that got away" lover, Aidan Shaw, will also be making a reappearance. In what capacity remains to be seen. Let's just hope he leaves the turquoise jewellery behind this time around.
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