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‘AJLT’ Stars Break Silence on Kim Cattrall’s Return, Admitting ‘Fans Miss Samantha’
Season 2 of the HBO/Max hit And Just Like That… will see the return of Sex and the City veteran Kim Cattrall, 66, as Samantha Jones. “We had a conversation about it, and we decided that it was right for the fans,” says Kristin Davis (Charlotte), 58, who executive produces the show alongside costars Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon and showrunner Michael Patrick King. “The fans miss Samantha. The fans love Samantha. Samantha is a fantastic character. We get it.”
Her return works story-wise, too. Samantha moved to London after falling out with Carrie, but the old friends began texting each other after the death of Carrie’s husband, Mr. Big. “It seemed like we had to honor the story. Sometimes people aren’t in your life every day, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not connected. Samantha’s return makes sense for the circumstance that it’s in.”
Kim returns for a phone call between Samantha and Carrie, but the two actresses, whose bitter rivalry has made headlines for years, didn’t film the scene together. SJP — who said in 2022 that Kim derailed a third SATC movie, publicly attacked her, and was not asked to be on And Just Like That… because “it no longer felt comfortable” — refuses to say anything else about their feud but will discuss Samantha’s surprise return.
“She’s present in Season 1 and more so in Season 2 via text. It was just a nice nod to the 25 years [of Sex and the City] to add the face to the text,” says SJP, 58. “And it’s a really opportune moment in the story, a consequential event happening in Carrie’s life, that Samantha rings and they have this quick, lovely, sentimental, funny call. It just feels normal and really nice, and I’m glad that we could manage it and work it out and get it sorted timewise and schedule-wise.”
Samantha’s return makes Cynthia Nixon happy, but she fears it could be anticlimactic. “It’s such a bummer that the cat got out of the bag, and it was leaked, because we went to so many lengths to try to hide it,” says the 57-year-old actress, who plays Miranda. “The thing we were really excited about was to have nobody expecting Samantha and then have her pop in. I just hope it’s not a tremendous anticlimax, to be frank.”
As for SJP and Kim’s feud, Cynthia is keeping mum, although she did joke about it in 2018 while running for governor of New York. During an appearance on The View, Cynthia was asked, “Is there any way you can pull a summit together with Sarah and Kim so that we can have a Sex and the City 3?” Cynthia, who at the time had her sights set on the governor’s mansion in Albany, was diplomatic, of course, quipping, “I’m afraid we’re gonna have to film it in Albany!
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