Nearly 11 years after Sex and the City concluded, viewers saw a change in Miranda Hobbes when she planned to split from her longtime husband, Steve Brady, to pursue something new with Che Diaz — though actress Cynthia Nixon asserts that it’s hardly a new character development.
“Even though she was only really interested in men [on Sex and the City], I think that Miranda had many other queer and, frankly, lesbianic qualities about her,” the Gilded Age star, 56, told Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, June 1. “And I think for a lot of gay women, she — we didn’t have a gay woman — but she was a stand-in for the gay women we didn’t have.”
She continued: “Miranda has always grappled with power, and female power versus male power, and women getting the short end of the stick — and that’s a big issue for women who are queer. I think not having to be under a man’s thumb has always been one of the very appealing things that being with another woman has to offer.”
Nixon worked closely with the HBO Max revival showrunner, Michael Patrick King, to tell an authentic story about Miranda’s coming-out journey.
“I was like, ‘Sure, why not,’” the New York native — who publicly came out in 2004 before marrying partner Christine Marinoni in 2012 — told Variety of learning that her character would be exploring her sexuality in the revival, which has been renewed for a second season. “If we’re trying to do different stuff, and show different worlds, and show different aspects of these characters, why not do that?”
During a January episode of And Just Like That, Miranda revealed to Steve — with whom she shares son Brady — that she wanted a divorce after falling in love with Che Diaz (Sara Ramírez), a nonbinary comedian who worked with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker). Though many fans were upset by Miranda’s fluid sexuality, Nixon has been a fervent supporter of how her character’s story line was handled.
“I think some people are not loving seeing these characters maybe off-kilter, but I love that,” the Ratched actress revealed during a January appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. “Miranda is so overwhelmed by how attracted she is to Che and how off-kilter that Che has thrown her that she becomes Charlotte and starts [following the 1990s self-help book] The Rules.”
The Tony Award winner further noted that calling Miranda’s story arc a “mid-life crisis” put a “negative spin” on what was actually a net positive for the TV attorney.
“Out of crises come really productive things,” Nixon told Drew Barrymore at the time. “You’re not young anymore, but you’re not old, either. And you still have time to make sure that your life is the way you want it to be.”
The 46-year-old Grey’s Anatomy alum, for their part, is also not bothered by the fan backlash surrounding Miranda and Che’s connection.
“What I love about Che is that Che is complicated and messy and human. Che is a great reminder that even when we don’t like someone in our community, they still deserve love, safety and joy, like everyone else,” Ramírez told Variety in a profile published on Wednesday. “But the movement for liberation includes everyone, even people we don’t like. This movement, this fight, this party of pride, isn’t just for the people who make us feel cozy and cute — it’s for everyone.”
