Sex and The diversity
Carrie and co make their
I COULDN’T help but wonder... where were they now? And Just Like That they’re back on TV!
Sex and the City, the romantic comedy that captured the lives of 30-something women juggling careers, friendships, sex and love, will return to our screens this week in a much-anticipated revival.
Our fave female foursome of the 90s may be a woman down and struggling with grey hair, but they are back with a bang.
And to reflect the more racially diverse population of New York, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) have four new friends in tow – played by Sara Ramirez, Sarita Choudhury, Karen Pittman and Nicole Ari Parker.
Friendship
Sex and the City, which was created by Darren Star and based on the book by Candace Bushnell, ran for six series from 1998 to 2004.
A film followed in 2008 then a sequel in 2010 – but will the new TV series be the same fabulously frothy concoction of fashion, friendship and frankness? Well, yes, yes and yes!
So what do we know about the show already? For a start, Samantha (Kim Cattrall), the sex-mad, man-eating PR boss is no more.
After a much-publicised falling out with leading lady SJP, she refused to take part in the new series – which will instead focus on Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte and their new gal pals.
Sara, of Grey’s Anatomy, plays Che Diaz, a non-binary stand-up comic who hosts a podcast that regularly features SJP’S sex columnist Carrie.
Sarita plays Seema Patel, a selfmade real estate broker, while Karen is Dr Nya Wallace, a professor at Columbia Law School.
Nicole plays Lisa Todd Wexley, a documentary maker and mum of three. The actress, who starred in Boogie Nights, said: “We can talk about the elephant in the room that there were no fully fleshed-out characters of colour and now there are four of us.
“Some of our storylines deal with race and deal with real experiences. It’s New York City.”
HBO’S president of programming, Casey Bloys, insisted the network isn’t “trying to re-do” Sex and the City. He said: “They’re not trying to say that these characters are reliving their 30s.
“It is very much a story about women in their 50s, and they are dealing with things that people deal with in their 50s.”
And referring to Cattrall’s absence from the show, he said that “just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave”.
Bloys added: “Friendships fade and new friendships start so I think it is all very indicative of the actual stages of life.”
The new series will show the characters dealing with the effects of the pandemic – but the big question is, are the same men still in their lives?
Carrie fans will be relieved to learn Mr Big is back after Chris
Noth was seen on set and SJP posted pictures of the loved-up pair on Instagram. But love rival Aidan is back too.
John Corbett confirmed he is reprising his role as Carrie’s exfiancé, and teased: “I think I might be in quite a few episodes…”
David Eigenberg will be back as Miranda’s baby daddy Steve Brady, and Mario Cantone will return as Charlotte’s bitchy gay friend Anthony Marentino.
Carrie’s gay pal Stanford Blatch will also return, despite the fact actor Willie Garson died earlier this year after filming some of the series. Evan Handler is also back as Charlotte’s husband Harry.
Leaked script details suggest that ultimately, Carrie and Mr Big might divorce – especially after his former, much younger wife
Natasha, played by Bridget Moynahan, was seen on set.
But this being Sex and the City there are going to be plenty of light-hearted sexual adventures along the way.
Pictures from the set have shown hunky French actor and model Thomas Canestraro carrying an injured Carrie up the steps of her brownstone apartment while wearing a tight male romper suit emblazoned with the logo, Hot Fellas Baked Goods.
So will Carrie once again find “ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-eachother love?” Watch this space…
feedback@people.co.uk And Just Like That... the new Sex and the City ten-part series starts on Thursday. It will be available to watch in the UK on Sky Comedy and NOW TV.
BACK: MIRANDA
CYNTHIA NIXON, 55
Mum-of-two Cynthia started dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004 and the couple married in New York in 2012.
Cynthia, who has two children with teacher Danny Mozes, said at the time: “I don’t really feel I’ve changed. I’d been with men all my life and I’d never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn’t seem so strange. I’m just a woman in love with another woman.”
The actress, who lives in New York, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. She has also engaged in politics – she made a bid to run for
governor of New York in 2018.
BACK: CARRIE
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, 56
Sarah was in a relationship with actor Robert Downey Jr from 1984 until 1991 but the troubled actor’s drug problem ruined their relationship.
She later dated John F. Kennedy Jr before marrying Ferris Bueller star Matthew Broderick in 1997.
Their son James was born in 2002 followed by twins Marion and Tabitha in 2009, via a surrogate.
SJP and her family live in two connecting townhouses in New York’s trendy Greenwich Village.
They also spend a lot of time at their holiday home near Kilcar, in
County Donegal, Ireland.
BACK: CHARLOTTE
KRISTIN DAVIS, 56
Unlike her marriage-obssessed character, Kristin is resolutely single but has adopted a daughter, Gemma Rose, and son Wilson.
The actress, who lives in Brentwood, California, once said that growing up in the south put her off marriage because it was all everyone ever talked about.
Kristin, who is a recovering alcoholic, once said: “Alcohol freed me. I was really shy and didn’t know how to come out of my shell. I drank for the same reason I loved acting. I wanted to feel things and express myself and be free.”