Not focusing on the drama. Kristin Davis addressed Kim Cattrall‘s upcoming cameo on And Just Like That — which reportedly wasn’t filmed alongside any of her former Sex and the City costars.
“You have to respect people’s wishes. I’m not gonna waste energy on it. I can’t change anybody,” Davis, 58, told The Telegraph on Friday, June 9, in response to a question about Cattrall’s alleged stipulations before reprising her role as Samantha Jones.
The actress, who plays Charlotte York, went on to say that she would have liked a different outcome amid rumors of a cast feud: “I do understand fans’ feelings — that they’re upset. I wish I could fix it, but I can’t, it’s not in my power.”
Earlier this month, Cattrall, 66, confirmed that she would make a brief appearance in the Sex and the City spinoff by resharing a Variety article about the news. The outlet noted that Samantha will have a brief phone conversation with Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) — and claimed the How I Met Your Father star did not interact with Parker, 58, or showrunner Michael Patrick King.
Cattrall, Parker, Davis and Cynthia Nixon originally starred in six seasons of Sex and the City from 1998 to 2004. They also returned for the two subsequent movies. After the U.K. native chose not to return for a third film — which didn’t end up happening — rumors spread about a feud between Cattrall and Parker.
The Hocus Pocus actress, for her part, clarified that she was “not in a catfight” with Cattrall despite their offscreen issues. “I’ve never publicly — ever — said anything unfriendly, unappreciative about Kim because that’s not how I feel about her,” she said on the “Origins” podcast in 2018.
King, 68, later discussed how the dynamics behind the scenes influenced Samantha’s departure from the series.
“Kristin, Cynthia and Sarah Jessica became one group, and Kim never joined mentally. Kim fought and said, ‘I’m everyone’s favorite,’” the screenwriter detailed to The Hollywood Reporter in December 2021. “[Parker’s] name was contractually, legally, righteously, the only name on the poster due to the fact that she was a movie star in 1998 when the series started and she did a leap to do a show about sex on [HBO], the channel that did the fights, and it doesn’t matter how popular you are. I guess for Kim it didn’t matter how much the raise became if there was never parity, but there was never going to be parity.”
According to King, the Tell Me a Story star was never meant to be a central focus of And Just Like That.
“And Just Like That was never, ever intended to include Kim Cattrall because she decided she didn’t wanna play Samantha many, many years ago. We love Kim. I love Kim. I loved her Samantha, and I knew that everybody, including myself, had invested years in those four friendships,” he exclusively told Us Weekly that same month. “So, I didn’t want to pretend that there was an absence — or wasn’t an absence. I wanted to reflect the reality of the fact that there was one not joining. Story wise, I came up with the idea that Samantha’s in London because we didn’t want to kill her. We love Samantha. That’s ridiculous.”
Before signing on for a cameo, Cattrall also addressed her lack of interest in the revival. “The series is basically the third movie. That’s how creative it was,” she told Variety in 2022. “I was never asked to be part of the reboot. I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie, so I found out about it like everyone else did — on social media.”
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And Just Like That season 2 premieres on MAX June 22.