I did NOT have this down on my 2023 predictions .
Aidan’s back, and so is Sam.
In a turn of events that literally no one was expecting,Varietydropped the bombshell on Wednesday thatKim Cattrallwill reprise her role as Samantha Jones — the iconic PR maven — in Season 2 of theSex and the Cityrevival series,And Just Like That.
“For one night only, theSex and the Cityuniverse will be whole again,” the report reads, announcing that Kim — the only member of the original foursome not to appear in Season 1 — has already shot a brief cameo for the Season 2 finale, which will air later this summer.
Once fans were done pinching themselves and restarting their phones to check that it wasn’t some kind of internet glitch, the reactions came in thick and fast, and before long the news wasconfirmedby the officialAnd Just Like ThatTwitter account.
Secret ’s out ! ! 👀 💕 https://t.co/GZRKXmB93Z
While you might be familiar with the messy behind-the-scenes feud that has clouded the show’s legacy, you may well have forgotten just how truly wild things got between Kim and her former colleagues over the years.
So before we get into the details of Kim’s upcoming cameo, let’s first refresh our memories about everything that’s unfolded since we last saw Sam Jones on our screens.
Our story starts in the ’90s, when Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Kim were cast to star as Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha, respectively, in HBO’sSex and the City.
Since Season 1 first aired in 1998, Sarah Jessica was marketed at the forefront of the show, serving as anexecutive producerfrom the second season onward. This led towidespread rumorsthat tensions among the cast members — namely Kim and SJP — had arisen over the fact that she was being paid significantly more than the other women.
And though the alleged discord didn’t do much to affectSATC’s major success, when the show ended after six seasons in 2004, Kim indicated that thepay disparitiesamong the actors had ultimately contributed to the decision.
Despite all of this, the original foursome got together for two subsequentSATCmovies in 2008 and 2010. And it was around the time of the first film that Kim and SJP explicitly addressed the reports of a falling-out behind the scenes, with Kim telling theTelegraphin 2008, “Are we the best of friends? No. We’re professional actresses. We have our own separate lives.”
Making matters more complicated, Sarah Jessica appeared to directly contradict this when quoted in the same report, telling the outlet that the cast membersweregood friends and that she wished she “saw more of Kim.”
Despite a little awkwardness, Kim and SJPcontinued to denythat there was any issue between them throughout the 2010s, with both actors putting the rumored feud down to salacious gossip.
However, the bubbling rift wound up getting personal — and a whole lot more public — a number of years down the line in 2017, after reports surfaced that Kim was the reason a thirdSATCmovie had beenscrapped at the last minutewith a script and production at the ready.
Memorably, Kimslammed the reportsat the time, shocking fans on Twitter by claiming that she never had any desire to take part in another movie in the first place. And shortly after this, she elaborated on her thoughts inan interview, saying it was an “empowered” decision to leave Samantha in her past — but that she wouldn’t miss her castmates.
“This is really where I take to task the people fromSex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker. I think she could’ve been nicer,” she said. “I really think she could’ve been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is.”
In what now lives on in thepop culturehistory books, theSATCfeud reached its climax whenKim slammed SJPfor sharing her condolences after Kim’s brother was tragically found dead.
In a scathingInstagram post— which is still live on her page — Kim accused Sarah Jessica of “exploiting” the tragedy in order to “restore” her “‘nice girl’ persona,” writing, “Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now.”
Sarah Jessica said nothing at the time of Kim’s post, but insistedtwo months laterthat she’d “never uttered an unkind, unsupportive, unfriendly word” and that there was “no catfight” to speak of.
And as if we needed any more confirmation that the third movie was definitely off the table, Kim gave a — now-iconic — interview with theGuardianthe following year, in which she said she’d “had enough” of playing Samantha. “I don’t want to be in a situation for even an hour where I’m not enjoying myself,” she said.
Needless to say, when theSATCrevival was announced inJanuary 2021, it came as a surprise to approximately no one that the show would be going ahead without Kim’s involvement. And in turn, Samantha’s absence was explained by a move to London after an argument with Carrie — whichthe writerssaid was done as a way to “respect the legacy” of the character while subtly staying true to the reality of the off-camera situation.
As the episodes rolled out weekly, Kim remained silent on the topic but still managed to make her feelings known by sneakily liking a number of tweets criticizing the show, including one from a fan who applauded her for turning down the “trashy” revival.
So gallant of@KimCattrallfor skipping the trashy S&TC reboot and doing@HIMYFonHulu . She ’s wonderful , and so is@HilaryDuff 👌 🏼 If you have 48 minutes to give up , go before and watch the first two episodes … I may even rewatch them before next workweek . Challenge accepted !
By this point, it was abundantly clear that, in spite of fans’ undying optimism, a surprise cameo from Samantha was categorically not happening — not only because of Kim’s feelings but because the show’s bosses didn’t want her there either.
To mark the Season 1 finale in February 2022,SATCcreatorMichael Patrick Kingjoined Sarah Jessica for a wide-ranging interview withVariety, in which they made it clear that the door was no longer open for a Samantha comeback.
“You have to look at the reality of something: You can literally not make an actress play a part,” Michael Patrick said, adding that there “was no thought that Kim would ever participate inAnd Just Like That, because she’s said what she had said.”
Sarah Jessica echoed this, saying that there’s “just too much public history” for her to be OK with Kim returning to the show.
The implication here was that they didn’t even bother asking Kim if she’d consider coming back, and Kim herself later confirmed this to be the case, tellingVarietythree months later that she found out about the revival “like everyone else did — on social media.”
In this same interview — which hinged on the “power of saying no” — Kim seemingly criticizedAJLTfor the first time, going on record to say that she didn’t love the way her character was written off. She also made a snarky comment about “how creative” the script was, quipping that the storylines were “basically” from the premise of the scrapped third movie.
Once again, she made it abundantly clear that she wouldn’t consider playing Samantha again under any circumstances, describing her relationship with the character as “finite.”
“Can you imagine going back to a job you did 25 years ago? … Everything has to grow or it dies,” she said. “I felt that when the series ended … And then the movie to end all the loose ends. And then there’s another movie. And then there’s another movie? Everything in me went, ‘I’m done.’”
A month after this, Sarah Jessica hit back in an interview withthe Hollywood Reporter, saying it’s “so painful for people to keep talking about this ‘catfight.’”
“There is not a ‘fight’ going on. There has been no public dispute or spat or conversations or allegations made by me or anybody on my behalf. I wouldn’t do it. That is not the way I would have it,” she said. “So I just wish that they would stop calling this a ‘catfight’ or an ‘argument,’ because it doesn’t reflect [reality]. There has been one person talking.”
She also seemingly agreed with Michael’s decision not to even approach Kim about appearing inAJLT,saying that it didn’t “occur” to them that she might ever agree, based on everything she’d said and done. “It no longer felt comfortable for us,” she admitted.
And so, less than a year after Kim confirmed toVarietythat it was a “definite no” to a cameo, we now have reports that she has already shot a scene for the upcoming Season 2 finale.
According toinside sources, Kim apparently filmed for the show on March 22 in New York City — and it’ll perhaps come as no surprise to hear that she made her comeback “without seeing or speaking with the stars of the series,” including SJP — or Michael.
If you watched Season 1 — which, if you made it this far, I’m sure you did — you’ll know that Samantha’s essence is kept alive without her actually appearing onscreen, through the medium of text messages and cards.
With this in mind, reports that Samantha’s cameo will be limited to a phone call with Carrie make sense — particularly in light of the fact that theSeason 1 finaleended with the former besties making a plan over text to reconcile.
Needless to say, we don’t know a whole lot about Kim’s comeback, other than that the originalSATCcostume designer, Patricia Field — who has not otherwise worked onAJLT— apparently returned especially to dress Samantha for the scene.
Of course, A LOT of questions remain as to when, where, why, andhowthis cameo wound up coming to fruition. Although one thing’s definite: We’re certainly in store for something pretty major.
