Garson, who played beloved character Stanford Blatch, died in September after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
And Just Like That executive producer, writer and director Michael Patrick King is talking about beloved late Sex and the City actor Willie Garson, and his original plans for Garson's character in the revival before the actor's devastating death.
Garson, who played Carrie Bradshaw's best friend Stanford Blatch, had been battling pancreatic cancer and died in September at 57 years old. As And Just Like That viewers found out in the fourth episode of the new HBO Max series, Stanford abruptly decided to get a divorce from his husband, Anthony, and moved to Tokyo to manage a 17-year-old TikTok star. King said his original plan was for Stanford to be in all 10 episodes of season 1 of the revival, but Garson couldn't complete filming.
"Stanford was going to have a midlife crisis," King revealed in a new Q&A with Variety. "Stanford's character always had a borderline career as a manager, and we were like going to explore the fact that it wasn't a real career. It was going to be Carrie [played by Sarah Jessica Parker] and him, feeling the shifts. Anthony and him were probably going to have split anyway."
"Then we would keep both of them in, and everybody would be relieved that they were divorced because it was not pleasant for anybody," he continued. "But there was a series of really fun, flirty, hilarious confidante scenes with Carrie that I loved. That old, old, very specific chemistry that Carrie and Stanford have, which is based totally on the uniqueness of Willie and Sarah Jessica’s history."
King said he purposely made Stanford's final storyline as straightforward as possible.
"Life and death is one thing in fiction: When it's real, it’s not funny or cute," he explained. "I didn't want to even flirt narratively with cute business about where he is. I knew the audience would never invest in it, because they knew he was never coming back. It's the most threadbare writing I've ever done just to move him along without much maneuvering, because it was just so sad. There was no way I could write myself out of that in any charming, cute way."
In an interview with Vulture in December, 56-year-old Parker -- who had been friends with Garson for over 30 years before his death -- said she knew before the And Just Like That cast started filming that Garson was sick, but he asked her to keep it confidential. He eventually told the rest of the cast, and he ended up cutting filming short due to his illness.
"He intended and wanted to complete the entire season," Parker said. "He had a very significant storyline, more so than ever, so it was my fervent hope that he would be able to do it all. And for Willie to have to leave, you knew that it was serious. If Willie could be there and do one more episode or one more scene, he would have done it. But he knew what he needed to do to take care of his son and of himself, and I am so glad that he did that because when he passed away, he wanted to do so in an environment and circumstance that made him feel safe and comfortable."
Mario Cantone, who played Garson's on-screen husband, Anthony Marentino, talked to ET in December about how his role in the revival was impacted by Garson's death. Watch the video below for more.
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