The actress joined the 'Sex and the City' reboot as powerhouse realtor Seema Patel.
And just like that, we're more than halfway through the first season of the HBO Max's Sex and the City spinoff, And Just Like That! Now that fans are reacquainted with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), they now have the opportunity to meet new characters, including powerhouse realtor Seema Patel, played by Sarita Choudhury.
Seema is a confident, single woman in her 50s, who isn't willing to settle for less than she deserves.
Choudhury admits to initially being nervous when joining the beloved SATC franchise, telling ET, "I've never played a character like this. I'm always usually in the darker, independent films. And suddenly I'm fully decked out in high heels, lipstick, moving fast, talking fast, and it was more, 'Can I do this?' And then it started to dawn on me, 'Wait, I don't even know how to enter this series…' I didn't want to ruin this series, you know what I mean?"
Despite her fears, Choudhury is loving playing the juicy role.
"I'm kind of addicted to playing Seema now," she says. "At the beginning, it was so nerve-racking for me. Now after I've done seven episodes, and I've had a break for Christmas and New Year's and, I don't know, I miss her, which I'm not really like that."
As one of the only single characters, Seema's love life has the potential to reignite some of the passion from the original series. "You're going to get to watch something that Seema participates in, but I can't tell you what it is," Choudhury teases.
But don't expect Seema to fall for any of types of men the women dated on the original series. Choudhury says her character wouldn't be interested in any of the main love interests from Sex and the City.
"They're not all duds, it's just, even I, I take a beat when I think of who Seema would like," she shares. "I feel like if you looked at the guys Seema went out with, you'd be like, 'What?' … I think Seema would literally see one thing in someone and be like, 'Him.' And then a day later would be like, 'Oh no, not him' ... I think she would look for someone who could handle her, and I think that's the problem. I don't think she's found that."
One task And Just Like That has taken on is acknowledging and attempting to fix the criticisms from the original show about its lack of diversity and inclusiveness.
Noting she feels that the reboot has "accomplished" the task, Choudhury tells ET, "I kind of love the fact that they brought in four new characters and gave them new storylines because usually that doesn't happen. Usually, you include characters, but they still remain side. I feel like they're making an effort to kind of… I'm like, 'Oh my god, I have a family. I have a mother and a father.' You start to see cracks in Seema's kind of perfection, boss lady character. Things like that. I was like, 'Wow, they're making a real effort, and I'm the one who has to now fill it out a bit, and as we move forward, the subtleties will now come more and more.' So, I do think they did a good job, but I'm sure criticism abounds. That's normal."
Choudhury says she's definitely open to returning to the show were it to be picked up for a second season.
"Just the other day, I was thinking, 'I wonder.' Because there's a point where they let you know if there is or not and we're not at that point yet," she explains. "I was thinking, 'God, I hope there is,' And also, I was thinking, you know when you bring in new characters and you just start establishing and everyone's getting used to all of us having grown up, Carrie's grown up. I feel like the second [season] would be able to just jump into who they really are as opposed to getting the audience used to seeing what they're seeing. So I would love a second season, but I really don't know."
As for whether she was privy to any previously filmed scenes with Chris Noth being cut amid his sexual assault scandal, Choudhury says she's been just as much in the dark as viewers.
"I read it when you read it," she shares of the reports. "The show has been kind of graceful in not involving people who were not involved, because I actually never met Chris Noth, never worked with him. Because I'm not part of the storyline, I wasn't informed of any of it... I didn't even know that there was more coming because in my head he was dead. So yeah, I didn't know."
A source previously told ET that the decision to remove Noth from the series was agreed upon by the cast, including the show's leading ladies and staffers. The source said the cast and staff all support the women who have come forward making accusations against Noth. The actor has denied the allegations.
New episodes of And Just Like That stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
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