Mario Cantone plays the hilarious Anthony Marentino on the 'Sex and the City' reboot.
Mario Cantone is all for a second season of And Just Like That. His hilarious character, Anthony Marentino, is newly single on the Sex and the City reboot, and everyone's favorite outspoken baker could find love again.
"The thing about Anthony is, and [show runner] Michael Patrick King told me, that he has evolved," 62-year-old Cantone tells ET's Rachel Smith of his character. "He is still honest, but he has evolved. He is not as mean as he used to be. He has definitely grown a lot."
Part of this evolution means that Anthony won't be hooking up with any of his Hot Fellas Baked Goods delivery men.
"I think years ago he might have," Cantone says of Anthony. "I thought that’s where it's going to go, but Michael said, 'No, no, no, I want him to be more evolved.' I said, 'I love that.'"
As for who Cantone wants Anthony to end up with, he tells ET, "I don’t know, I’ll take Blair Underwood." Cantone then quickly remembers that the handsome 57-year-old actor played Miranda Hobbes' love interest, Dr. Robert Leeds, on SATC. "No, he can’t come back."
Cantone then throws out Tom Hardy's name to play a possible love interest. While the 44-year-old British hunk is certainly a dream casting, Cantone also has another star closer to home in mind.
"Nicole Ari Parker's husband, maybe he would. You know, maybe she'd lend him to me for the season," he quips of co-star Parker's real-life husband, actor Boris Kodjoe.
In the series, Anthony was married to Carrie Bradshaw's good friend, Stanford Blatch, played by the late Willie Garson. Tragically, Garson died of cancer in the middle of filming the reboot, and the show had to rework the Stanford storyline, which included him leaving for work in Japan and divorcing Anthony in the process.
Cantone revealed that the episode where Anthony tells Carrie that Stanford has asked for a divorce was filmed shortly before Garson's death.
"It was very sad, and it was filmed before Willie passed, and we knew it was not good, so it was sad. ...That was real hard," he shared.
Cantone's husband, Jerry Dixon, watches the show with him each week, and had some comforting words at the And Just Like That premiere.
"I remember sitting there at the premiere with him, and it was very difficult to watch some of it, just emotionally. At the end of the whole thing he turned to me and goes, 'You’re part of something very special,'" Cantone recalls. "He just loved it."
Cantone says he's "very satisfied" with how the reboot turned out, adding that he is "of course" hoping for a second season.
"I love the changes," he shares. "I just think [Michael Patrick King] did a brilliant job and selfishly, my stuff is glorious. It is never enough for me."
The season finale of And Just Like That is now streaming on HBO Max as well as the documentary special.
RELATED CONTENT:
