NEED TO KNOW
- Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that she wasn’t aware there was backlash toward Sara Ramírez’s character on And Just Like That… until a friend told her
- Parker noted that she “loved working with” Ramírez, who played the non-binary love interest of Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda
- Ramírez exited the spinoff series after season 2 but previously explained that she was “proud of the representation” the show created for queer people
Sarah Jessica Parker is out of the loop when it comes to viewers’ opinions of And Just Like That…
In a recent interview with The Guardian, the actress, 60, opened up about the way the Sex and the City spinoff has evolved over two decades after the original series ended. One of the more controversial changes was Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) exploring her sexuality with Sara Ramírez’s “queer, non-binary” character, Che Diaz — but Parker never knew anything about that negative chatter.
“A friend of mine brought it up to me, and it’s like: ‘What are you talking about?’” she revealed. “And he said: ‘Yeah, there’s all this conversation.’ I’ve been an actor for 50 years, and I’ve almost never paid attention to peripheral chatter.”
Parker added that she “loved working with them,” referring to Ramírez, 49, who is non-binary like Che and uses they/them pronouns.
She also joked that she isn’t very aware of what fans think of her role as Carrie, either, so most of her information comes from other people.
“I’m not on TikTok myself – I don’t say that pridefully, I’m just overwhelmed by the idea of it,” Parker noted.
Ramírez did not return for the currently airing third season of AJLT… and previously addressed the backlash in 2022 ahead of the season 1 finale.
“I don’t recognize myself in Che,” they told The New York Times. “I’m very aware of the hate that exists online, but I have to protect my own mental health and my own artistry.”
“And that’s way more important to me because I’m a real human being,” Ramírez continued. “I’m really proud of the representation that we’ve created. We have built a character who is a human being, who is imperfect, who’s complex, who is not here to be liked, who’s not here for anybody’s approval. They’re here to be themselves.”
Pointing out that they are “not in control of the writing,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum explained that they “welcome the passion that folks are bringing to the table around this representation.”
“But in real life, there are a lot of different human beings who show up to the table, speaking truth to power in myriad ways,” they said. “And they all land differently with different people. And Che Diaz has their own audience that they speak to who really get a kick out of what they’re doing.”
Ramírez joined the reboot for season 1 as a non-binary comedian and podcaster who struck up a romance with Miranda. Before the revival, the mom and lawyer had never explored a romantic connection with anyone but a male partner, and her interest in Che led Miranda to divorce her husband, Steve (David Eigenberg).
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New episodes of And Just Like That… drop weekly on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.
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