He auditioned to play a very memorable love interest.
Stephen Colbert almost had a memorable part in an iconic Sex and the City episode. The 57-year-old Late Show host recalled the cameo he missed out on when stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis visited his show this week to promote the beloved series' new reboot, And Just Like That.
Nixon, who plays tough lawyer Miranda Hobbes, joked about "the one that got away" from the original series, specifically citing an episode from season 6 titled "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little," in which the famous phrase, "He's just not that into you," was coined.
Carrie's love interest at the time, Jack Berger (Ron Livingston), tells Miranda that if a guy is hesitant to spend the night or spend more time with her, he's just not that into her. She views this as a revelation until she goes on a date to an Indian restaurant with a man who says he needs to turn in early. When Miranda assumes this means he's not into her, he finally tells her he has diarrhea.
"We were all sitting around on the set the other day and somehow one of the writers, who was a writer on the old show, said that actually Stephen Colbert was almost cast in that part," Nixon shared. "And I have to say, the guy who did it was great, he was fantastic, but..."
"They wrote that with me in mind?" Colbert joked.
"I wouldn't go that far, but I do believe that you were in some way considered for the role," Nixon said.
"You were the dream," Davis agreed.
It turns out that was not quite true as Colbert revealed more details from the guest role that he didn't land.
"I can add to your story by saying, the opening line of that scene is, 'That was some hot biryani,' and I know that because I auditioned for that part and didn't get it," he shared. "Evidently, I didn't have the acting chops to act like I had diarrhea. I was not a convincing sick person."
"That's probably good," Davis reasoned.
The loss of the role has seemingly haunted Colbert, who added, "To this day if I go to an Indian restaurant and if I see that they have it on the menu, I go, 'That's some spicy Biryani,' because I never forget. It stayed with me."
Although he didn't make it into the original series, Colbert does, sort of, make a cameo in And Just Like That.
Davis shared a photo of herself on set posing with a cardboard cutout of the late-night host, and explaining, "That's the school gala, where you, Stephen Colbert, are an auction item for my pretend children's school."
"Well, tickets to your show," Nixon clarified.
Colbert then quipped of his cardboard cutout, "He should have auditioned. Maybe he's a better actor than I am."
And Just Like That premiered its first two episodes on Thursday, and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda, and Charlotte are all back. There was even a surprise death.
Prior to the episodes airing, showrunner Michael Patrick King told ET at the premiere, "It's a different world, and I thought, how great to see these familiar characters in a new world and see where they are now. To me, I always think about them in New York and it just became the right moment, the right time to see them all again."
For more, watch the clip below:
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