Kim Cattrall shares her reaction to further details of Samantha Jones's scrapped story from the proposed Sex and the City 3. The actress played the sexually voracious fan-favorite character on the original 6 seasons of HBO's Sex and the City as well as in its follow-up films, 2008's Sex and the City and 2010's Sex and the City 2. However, after the promised third film was scripted, she refused to join the project and it was scrapped, citing two storylines that minimized the character of Samantha: a sequence where she receives inappropriate photos from Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) underage son Brady, and the death of lead character Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) longtime romantic partner Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
Although Sex and the City 3 never came to fruition, the skeleton of that script was later reworked into the reboot series And Just Like That, which began airing on HBO Max in late 2021. The series followed Miranda and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) helping Carrie process her grief over her husband's death as they continued to navigate love and sex in New York City in their 50s. Although many members of the original cast returned, including Mario Cantone, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, and the late Willie Garson, Kim Cattrall upheld her refusal to reprise her role. The character of Samantha was written offscreen with a rift between her and Carrie that caused her to move to London and stop speaking to her old friend, though the And Just Like That finale implied the pair may have begun repairing their friendship.
Kim Cattrall sat down with Variety for a profile on her embracing the power of saying "no." She reacted to the fact that her storyline would have forced her character to have to deal with unwanted nude photos from a minor, which she called "heartbreaking." She explains that she wished the characters around Carrie had more important things to do in their storylines, even pitching a plot where Samantha is forced to sell her PR business to an up-and-coming tech mogul during the financial crisis of 2008. However, even with this idea bubbling, she was "ready" to leave and explore other opportunities and "be in different places playing different characters because I’m a character actress." Read her full quote below:
It’s heartbreaking [that Samantha's plot involved getting inappropriate pictures from Brady.]
Why can’t Samantha, who owns her PR company — maybe she had to sell it because of financial woes? 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. 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. Instead of an underage boy’s …
[It's] an understatement [that I didn't feel like Samantha was progressing.]
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. 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.
Despite the success of And Just Like That, which had a record-breaking premiere for HBO Max, Cattrall has continuously refused to appear on the series. The actress isn't hurting for work, however. She is currently playing a grown-up version of Hilary Duff's character Sophie on the Hulu reboot series How I Met Your Father, which was just renewed for a double-sized season 2.
She has aces like that series and her upcoming appearance on a reboot of Queer as Folk in her back pocket. Because of that, it seems more and more unlikely that Samantha will ever return to the world of the series, either in And Just Like That season 2 or a potential Sex and the City 3. Considering what a humiliating storyline she was offered in the first place, it's no shock that she's had no issue with doubling down on her refusal.
Source: Variety