The new Sex and the City series, And Just Like That…, is officially in production.
Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw) posted a photo on Instagram showing her with fellow original cast members Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York Goldenblatt). Appropriately enough, the trio have the familiar New York City skyline behind them.
“Read through our first episodes,” SJP wrote in the caption. “Alongside all the fellas and our newest cast members. Like an ice cream sundae. X.”
Absent from the read-through, for obvious reasons, was Kim Cattrall, who will not be participating in the new 10-part series. Her alleged feud with Parker has been very well documented over the years.
Explaining her decision not to reprise her iconic role as Samantha Jones, Cattrall said on the Women’s Prize for Fiction podcast: “I’m lucky enough to have the choice, not that I haven’t worked for it, I have. 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.”
On Instagram this weekend, Parker also shared some photos from the table read. Place settings confirm that Chris Noth (Mr Big), Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch) and Mario Cantone (Anthony Marentino) are all returning for And Just Like That… as well. Cast members weren’t allowed to take scripts home with them, suggesting storylines are being kept tightly under wraps.
Producer Michael Patrick King has also promised that And Just Like That… will reflect the true diversity of New York City in a way that the overwhelmingly white original series did not. According to TVLine, the series will introduce three new regular characters who are women of colour.
Last month it was announced that Grey’s Anatomy actor Sara Ramírez will play the franchise’s first non-binary character, Che Diaz, a stand-up comedian who hosts a podcast on which Carrie makes regular appearances.
In recent years, the HBO show has rightly been criticised for its problematic approach towards race, bisexuality and trans characters, something which the brilliant Woke Charlotte meme sought to redress.
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