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What Convinced Sarah Jessica Parker to Join Sex and the City

By Michelle McKinley | October 20, 2016 0 Comments

Turns out it took one very special line that lead to Parker taking the role

Sex and the City was more than a television series, it was a phenomenon. It’s been eighteen years since the show debut on HBO, and twelve years since the show went off the air, but fans still can’t get enough. Whether it’s watching reruns now airing in syndication, or showing up in droves to catch the films in theaters, fans seem to always want more of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.

But Sarah Jessica Parker almost didn’t take the role that made her a household name. According to a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Parker talks about her hesitation in committing to a TV series. “In my head it was just the same thing over and over again,” she said. “It felt like someone had put me in a straitjacket in theory.” Parker says she felt “panicked” about taking on the role as the single girl in the city in Sex and the City.

While Parker’s husband, brother and manager all attempted to convince her that Sex and the City was a good idea, it was ultimately the show’s script that convinced her there was something in the role.

“It was the last moment of that script,” said Parker. “[Carrie] is with Big and he picks her up on the street or something … they talk about being in love and not being in love and she’s being kind of glib. He says, ‘Have you ever been in love?’ I think she’s sort of dismissive and cavalier and then she gets out of the car and starts walking towards the door and she turns around and knocks on his window. He pulls it down and she says, ‘Have you ever been in love?’ And he says, ‘Abso-f——lutely.’ She turns and it freeze frames on her face and I was like, ‘Oh! There’s a story here. There’s an amazing story to be told.'”

Sex and the City gave us multiple couples to route for, at the heart of the show was the relationship between Carrie and Big. While Big ultimately commits to Carrie years after the series ended, it seems as though Parker loved Big from the very beginning.