Nicole Ari Parker has officially joined the ‘Sex and the City’ revival ‘And Just Like That…,’ but she wants to make it clear that her character is not replacing the beloved Samantha Jones.
via People:
The actress, 51, said fans had some passionate reactions to her casting as she spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about joining the ensemble in the wake of news that fan-favorite Kim Cattrall would not return to reprise her role as the sexually savvy publicist.
“When it first came out that I was replacing the Samantha character — which is not true at all, so please write that — I have been yelled at, and I’ve also been attacked with love,” Parker said. “I’ve been photographed in places I should never be photographed. The fans are so excited and over the top. I had some idea of that because I am one of those fans but I had no idea [the extent of it].”
Parker signed onto the cast of the HBO Max revival in July, as a new character named Lisa Todd Wexley, “a Park Avenue mother of three and documentarian.” along with Sarita Choudhury and Karen Pittman, not long after Sara Ramírez joined the show.
Parker also raved to the outlet about the newcomers playing “four women of color who are fully realized women with full lives.”
Cattrall, 65, has long maintained that she would never return to the franchise, citing tension with her costars. Sarah Jessica Parker has consistently shot down any suggestion of a feud between herself and Cattrall.
“I’m lucky enough to have choice, not that I haven’t worked for it, but I have it,” Cattrall explained of her decision on the Women’s Prize for Fiction podcast in December. “It’s something I feel very lucky to have and I’m very protective of it. I wouldn’t be any good doing something that I really didn’t want to do.”
In February, HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys indirectly referenced Cattrall’s absence from the show in an interview with TVLine, saying, “Just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave. Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life.”
SJP has been seen on set in New York City this summer, reuniting with costars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, as well as original cast members Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Mario Cantone, Bridget Moynahan and Willie Garson, who died from pancreatic cancer last month. Also reprising his role is John Corbett, though he has not yet been seen filming.
The new 10-episode series will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte “as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s,” according to a logline.
Parker, 56, Nixon, 55, and Davis, 56, officially announced the Sex and the City revival on Instagram in January. Along with Cattrall, they starred in the original HBO series, which ran for six seasons from 1998 to 2004, before returning for two Sex and the City feature films in 2008 and 2010.
We can’t wait to watch!
