Cynthia Nixon knows that Miranda Hobbes’ storyline on ‘And Just Like That…’ is Not a fan favorite — but she doesn’t quite understand it.
via People:
The direction of Miranda Hobbes on the Sex and the City revival has sparked much debate from fans online, primarily from those opposing the narrative. The first season saw Miranda seemingly develop a reliance on alcohol. Her longtime marriage to Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) also appears to be in trouble after new love interest Che Diaz — a nonbinary comedian and podcast host, played by Sara Ramirez — enters the picture.
However, in a recent interview with Vogue, Nixon, 55, said of the negative feedback on Miranda: “I think that’s a bizarre reaction.”
“First of all, I think Miranda is brave, and I think Miranda is charging forward,” Nixon said. “She doesn’t know where she’s going exactly, but she knows she has to go somewhere. And I think that’s always been true of Miranda, right?”
“Miranda’s very smart, and she’s very tenacious, but the idea that she’s levelheaded — she’s never been levelheaded!” she continued. “She’s a loose cannon, a very opinionated loose cannon. She’s always been a bull in a china shop and losing her temper and blowing things up then having to backtrack when she calms down.”
Added Nixon, “She gives up her very lucrative corporate job and goes back to try and make something more of her life. As Miranda says: We’re not old, we’re 55. I mean, you’re certainly closer to the end than to the beginning. But if you’re not happy with where you are, you still have a lot of time to make a change.”
The actress also addressed the discourse surrounding Miranda’s romantic entanglements with Steve and Che, and how they share parallels with Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) former love triangle with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).
“It reminds me very much of Carrie and some of her most seminal moments of being in love with Mr. Big and trying to make herself be in love with Aidan but having an affair,” Nixon explained. “Like I was saying before, a feminist show shouldn’t be agitprop, it shouldn’t be propaganda showing women as these sensible, wise, kind, attractive people. First of all, who wants to watch that? I don’t want to watch that.”
“It’s to show women and our struggles and our dreams and our foibles. You don’t always know where you’re going,” she added. “Those are the people that I’m interested in, not the people who are playing it safe.”
By the season’s end, Miranda ultimately chose to leave Steve and pursue a relationship with Che. She also followed Che to Los Angeles, opting to finish up her course work remotely and pass up on an internship at Human Rights Watch.
Recently, Nixon revealed that the original plans for her character on And Just Like That… didn’t involve Che.
“So originally when [director] Michael [Patrick King] was sort of trying to think about what would happen in our season, he talked about Nya (Karen Pittman), Miranda’s professor, being the romantic relationship,” she said in a documentary on the making of the show. “Nya was a straight character and Miranda’s a straight character and I was like, ‘Well that doesn’t sound very sexy at all.’ Do you know what I mean?”
Nixon continued, “Two women who have gotten to this age and are now just sort of fumbling around, that doesn’t seem great. And I was like, ‘Why couldn’t it be, you know, why couldn’t it be this butch person that you’re talking about having for Carrie?'”
The entire first season of ‘And Just Like That…’ is now streaming on HBO Max.
