SEX & THE CITY'S 20TH BIRTHDAY
SECRETS INSIDE!
Can you believe it’s been 20 years since the Sex And The City ladies first strutted into our lives in their sky-high Manolo Blahniks, breaking taboos with their no-holdsbarred approach to love, dating and, er, dildos? Not much was off limits during the show’s six seasons, with the fab four tackling everything from monogamy to manhood size, all over some delicious-looking Sunday brunch. Instantly, the world was hooked, with all of us identifying with either Carrie, Miranda, Samantha or Charlotte (or, for the more complex among us, a combination of all four). But despite having watched every episode roughly 87 times and possessing an encyclopaedic knowledge of Carrie’s “I couldn’t help but wonder”s, it turns out we’re still learning things about our favourite show. So, do we now intend to re-watch the entire thing all over again? Absof*ckinglutely.
1 Tall performance
Kim Cattrall insisted she always wore heels, even if she was only being filmed from the waist up. This was so she’d feel like sassy Samantha at all times (seriously, would Ms Jones have ever been seen dead in trainers?)
2 stranger than fiction
The storylines may have been endlessly shocking, but they were based on the writers’ real-life sexploits – including that horrendously cringeworthy time Carrie was dumped via Post-it note.
3 Two-faced Justin
The artist formerly known as Mr Jen-an, Justin Theroux, appeared as two different characters throughout the show’s run. First, he was cool guy Jared, who Carrie flirts with to make Big jealous. Then he was writer Vaughn Wysel, who can’t quite handle his, er, excitement when they’re getting frisky.
4 Better as friends
He’s Carrie’s on-screen gay BFF but, in real life, Willie Garson, aka Stanford Blatch, is straight. And he and longtime friend SJP first met when they were set up on a blind date. Now that would have been a disturbing storyline.
5 Blondes have more fun
Her blonde curls lit up the New York skyline, but Carrie was originally going to be brunette. Producers dyed SJP’S hair just 24 hours before the pilot was filmed, as Candace Bushnell (the real-life Carrie) is blonde. 6 sweet success The show is credited for being responsible for the global boom in cupcake sales, after Carrie and Miranda chowed down on cakes from Magnolia Bakery. The store even had to employ a bouncer to deal with all the demand.
7 Fourth-choice Matt
Carrie has a famously awkward chat with Matthew Mcconaughey when she goes to LA in season three, but it turns out Matt wasn’t the first choice for a cameo. It was originally offered to, and turned down by, Alec Baldwin, George Clooney and Warren Beatty. 8 Keeping mum When Carrie bumps into Aidan while he’s out with baby Tate in season six, you might notice that little Tate is extraexcited to see her. That’s because the tot was actually played by SJP’S real-life son, James Wilkie, who’s now 15.
9 Man’s not-sobest friend
Aidan’s on-screen dog Pete is memorably icy towards Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie. Unfortunately, the first pup chosen for the role absolutely loved SJP, but hated John Corbett (Aidan), so the role had to be re-cast.
10 Bottle red Miranda’s red hair is iconic and synonymous with her fiery personality. But Cynthia Nixon is not a natural redhead. In fact, she’s blonde, but dyed her hair for the role. She also wore clip-on earrings, as she doesn’t have pierced ears. Not fierce enough to pierce? We’re shocked.
11 Maternal Miranda It was a shocker when career-minded Miranda got pregnant in series four. But the curveball storyline makes more sense, given that Cynthia Nixon was actually up-duffed at the time. Wonder if the involuntary farting was real or staged?
12 Bigger than Big
Mr Big lives up to his moniker from the pilot episode, where he’s the centre of attention at a VIP party. And it turns out that this charismatic character was actually based on a real person – Ron Galotti, a Condé Nast publisher, who Sex And
The City’s author Candace Bushnell dated for a year.
13 No prizes there
She delivered some emosh and amusing storylines in equal measure as Charlotte, but Kristin Davis was the only one out of the four main stars who didn’t win an individual award for her role. Somebody get that girl an Emmy!
14 Opening clanger
Despite having seen the opening credits hundreds of times, we’d never noticed this continuity error: at first, the bus that splashes Carrie is full of passengers, but seconds later it’s empty. Another unscreened version of the credits, meanwhile, saw Carrie strut down the road in a plain blue dress, not a tutu. Boring!
15 Why all the questions?
Carrie is constantly questioning love dilemmas throughout the show’s run. But have you ever wondered how many times she couldn’t help but wonder? Well, we have the answer for you: 92 times.