The 'Sex and the City' star says she was never asked to be on the spinoff series.
Kim Cattrall has her reasons for not wanting to reprise her character, Samantha Jones, on HBO Max's Sex and the City spinoff series, And Just Like That.
“It’s a great wisdom to know when enough is enough,” Cattrall tells Variety of why she walked away from the SATC franchise after six seasons and two movies. “I also didn’t want to compromise what the show was to me. The way forward seemed clear.”
She says that after the second SATC movie, "Everything in me went, ‘I’m done.’"
While she had already decided not to play Samantha again, the 65-year-old actress notes, "I was never asked to be part of the reboot. I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie, so I found out about it like everyone else did -- on social media."
When Variety's Ramin Setoodeh says some fans were asking how the show would work without Samantha, Cattrall responds, "You said it. Not me."
As for whether she was ever truly friends with her SATC co-stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, Cattrall says, "I guess it’s how you define friends. I think we were colleagues. My colleagues aren’t my friends. It was professional."
The actress, who now stars on How I Met Your Father and Queer as Folk, is adamant that she will never play Samantha again. "That’s a no. It’s powerful to say no," she says when asked if she'd ever be on And Just Like That.
Parker, SATC and And Just Like That's leading lady, told Variety in February that she would not be OK with Cattrall reprising her role as Samantha. "I don't think I would, because I think there's just too much public history of feelings on her part that she's shared," the actress, who portrays Carrie Bradshaw, said.
When asked about Parker's remarks, Cattrall says, "Well, it would never happen anyway. So nobody has to worry about that."
The actress also claims to have not watched And Just Like That. "I certainly heard about it," she tells Variety. "And I’ve come to the conclusion that really the greatest compliment I could have as an actor is to be missed."
She adds, "The series is basically the third movie. That’s how creative it was."
Cattrall also calls it "heartbreaking" when asked about the reports that the third SATC movie would've had Samantha receiving unwanted "dick pics" from Miranda Hobbes' (Nixon) 14-year-old son, Brady.
She says the feeling that her character wasn't progressing in the SATC franchise is "an understatement."
"I would have preferred for all of us to have some kind of event to warrant a third film. That didn’t happen. But also, I was ready. And this is exactly what I wished for: to be in different places playing different characters because I’m a character actress," she explains. "And as difficult as it was, and as scary as it is to stand up and not be bullied by the press or the fans or whomever -- to just say, I’m good. I’m on this track. It was so great working with you. I so enjoyed it, but I’m over here."
And while she's won't ever play Samantha again, Cattrall still has a soft spot for the character and where she'd like to see her today.
"Why can’t Samantha, who owns her PR company -- maybe she had to sell it because of financial woes? [The year] 2008 was tough. Some people are still recovering. She had to sell it to some guy who’s wearing a hoodie, and that’s the dilemma she has," the actress ponders. "I mean that’s a scenario that was kind of off the top of one of my reps’ heads, and I thought that’s a great idea. That’s a conflict."
Cattrall admits that "it’s odd" to see the franchise move on without her. "I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s so finite for me, so it doesn’t continue. I think I would ponder it more if I didn’t have something like Queer as Folk or How I Met Your Father. That’s kind of where I’m centered around," she notes. "This feels like an echo of the past. Other than the really wonderful feeling of -- it’s rare in my business -- people wanting more, especially at 65. That feels powerful, that I’ve left something behind that I’m so proud of."
Cattrall says of Samantha, "I loved her. I loved her so, so, so much. It’s tough competition. The original show is in all of our imaginations. But for me, it feels clean."
As for what's next for the TV star, "I’d like to do my own sitcom. I think that would be a lot of fun with an audience -- playing a woman my own age. I have a very specific idea of what I want to do."
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