Sarah Jessica Parker will always be Carrie Bradshaw to us, but the six-time Golden Globe winner almost turned down her iconic Sex and the City role. According to Deadline, the actress wanted to quit the HBO series after the pilot was picked up.
Sarah Jessica Parker told her co-star Kristin Davis on her Are You a Charlotte? podcast that while she had a “lovely” time filming the pilot episode in 1997, she was unsure if she wanted to appear on a television show. “I don’t think I’m suited for that life.”
“I talked to my agents and I said, ‘Hey, can you get me out of this?'” recalled Parker on the podcast, adding that she told HBO she would happily make lots of movies instead of signing up for the TV show. Her agent told her to do it for a year, and if she didn’t like it, they would find a way to get her out.
After Parker met Sex and the City’s iconic costume designer Patricia Field, her mind changed. She suddenly saw the “oppressive idea to endless possibilities” when it came to Carrie Bradshaw.
Parker also admitted she had issues with nudity and foul language included in Sex and the City. She spoke to the show’s creator Darren Star about it, and with some help from her agent at the time, she was the only one of the four main actresses who had zero nude scenes, thanks in part to the "no nudity" clause in her contract.
This decision to stay ended up being the right choice for both the audience and Parker. The actress never looked back for saying yes to the HBO comedy-drama and “was never not happy to be there.” She added, “There was no place I would rather have been than on our set every single solitary day.”
The iconic role saw Parker appear in 96 episodes over six years alongside two movies and now a sequel series. She also executive produces both And Just Like That and Sex and the City.
So, what would have happened if Sarah hadn’t ultimately said yes? Lisa Edelstein, who played Dr. Lisa Cuddy on House, would have filled in the role. While Sarah Jessica Parker was always the number one choice to star as Carrie, producers at HBO weren't going to cancel the show if Parker hadn’t signed up once the pilot had been picked up.
Edelstein explained, "I was either going to do it or not. It all depended on whether she [Sarah Jessica Parker] said yes. My contract was complete. I was waiting." It’s strange to think there is a world where Parker never appeared as Bradshaw and instead Edelstein waltzed around New York in sky high Manolos.
According to THR, Darren Star also had Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis read for the role of Carrie. Davis knew when she saw the character described as having “the body of Heather Locklear and the mind of Dorothy Parker,” it wasn’t a good fit for her.
Why Sarah Jessica Parker didn't want to commit to television
Sarah Jessica Parker, who has appeared on television shows like Glee and Divorce, didn’t want to commit herself to long TV projects. The And Just Like That actress called herself a “journeyman” actor as she always wanted to be "moving” so she could be available for film and stage roles.
Parker added that the idea of making television left her “depressed” because she didn’t want to do “the same thing over and over and over again.” She explained that while she had great experience working on television shows, she is relieved they only lasted one or two seasons, so she could quickly move on.
Parker continued, “The idea of a television series meant that I couldn’t do all those things. And it just kind of felt like somebody was, you know, putting their hand over my mouth or something. It was very weird.”
At the time, television was considered a place where movie stars’ careers went to die. Remember, Sex and the City was one of the shows that beckoned in the era of prestige television, and Parker had a lucrative career to lose. Television would have felt a step down after appearing in Hocus Pocus, Ed Wood, and Mars Attacks!
And Just Like That season 3 premieres May 29 on HBO Max.