Sorry, Sex and the City fans, but Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with Carrie Bradshaw.
“There’s a sentiment sometimes that she’s frustrating or she’s selfish or she makes poor decisions or she doesn’t manage her money. Well, yeah, all of that has been true over the course of the last 25 years.” Parker, 60, said of her iconic character during a Wednesday, June 18, appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “But she’s also been hugely loyal, decent, reliable, a really good friend, generous, available, present, comforting, giving of herself in big and small ways that are private and public to her and among her friends.”
The actress admitted that she “would feel frustration” as a viewer but has no qualms about the character as the one who built her from the ground up.
“It was just very curious to me where they say she’s selfish,” Parker added. “I can give you 10 reasons in ways in which she wasn’t.”
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Parker originated the role of Carrie Bradshaw when Sex and the City premiered on HBO in 1998. The series ended in 2004 after six seasons. Parker and the cast returned for two movies that premiered in 2008 and 2010, respectively. The actress reprised her role once again in 2021 when the And Just Like That spinoff premiered.
“There wouldn’t really be a show if she had been a more consistently stellar human being,” Parker said. “That’s it. The end.”
Keep scrolling for Parker’s quotes about playing Carrie from her “Call Her Daddy” episode:
Her 1st Impression of Carrie
Parker remembered that she “really liked” Carrie after reading the Sex and the City pilot script.
“First of all, the way she was speaking, her choice of language, I’d never seen or heard a woman talk like that,” the actress recalled. “There was a kind of darkness to the pilot script that I thought was very exciting to imagine.”
Parker was immediately drawn to Carrie’s “candor” and “curiosity about sex and sexual politics” — mostly because it was so different from her real life.
“I don’t talk about that at all, even with friends,” she admitted. “I don’t sit and share intimate details of my life that way. … And I admired that she was scrappy. You know, she was like a little survivor.”
The Double Standard
When discussing the backlash that Carrie gets, Parker said that female characters are less accepted for their flaws.
“I think we forgive our male characters, our male leads. We have no problem if they’re murderers,” she said. “My favorite show in that period is [The] Sopranos. I love Tony Soprano. … But Tony Soprano was a deeply flawed man, but we didn’t talk as much about that as we did Carrie having an affair with a married man.”
Related: ‘Sex and the City’ Drama Through the Years: A Timeline
Just as Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte had their adventures, the cast of Sex and the City have been on what seems like a roller coaster since the show began in 1999. After running for six seasons, the HBO series wrapped in 2004. The costars went on to reprise their roles four years later: Sarah […]
Carrie’s Fashion
Yes, Parker remembers Carrie’s outfits — don’t fret. (Host Alex Cooper had a Carrie-inspired outfit on for the interview, including a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps, which Parker clocked right away.)
“I knew the minute I saw it,” Parker said. “I don’t actually remember a lot, but I remember outfits and cross streets.”
Parker confirmed that during season 1 of the show, she negotiated her contract to keep all of Carrie’s outfits — and she still has them.
The Decision to Return to Carrie
Conversations about And Just Like That started in 2020, and for Parker, it was “never the right time” for her to revisit the character until then.
“We thought, well, that’s why it’s right now, because everybody’s looking for home and Carrie’s always been looking for home and the way she tries to find that is with her friends. How do they guide you home?” Parker remembered. “In theory, it felt really good. It was terrifying.”
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