Why isn’t Samantha Jones in the Sex and the City reboot?
Original cast members Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York Goldenblatt) are all signed on for the HBO Max project, but one key actress is missing from the lineup: Kim Cattrall, who will not be reprising her role as the fan-favorite publicist in any capacity.
The 10-episode series, titled And Just Like That…, has been in production since June and will likely hit HBO Max sometime in late 2021.
On July 9, Nixon shared the first official photo of her, Jessica Parker and Davis in costume as their iconic characters, but on social media, many fans were quick to bring up Samantha’s glaring absence from the friend group.
So, why isn’t Kim Cattrall in the upcoming SatC reboot?
“Never. It’s a no from me,” Cattrall told The Daily Mail in 2019 when asked if she would ever consider joining a SATC revival.
At the time, Cattrall also hinted at a feud with some of her former co-stars: “You learn lessons in life and my lesson is to do work with good people and try and make it fun.”
When Cattrall’s brother Chris passed away in 2018, Jessica Parker sent her condolences to Cattrall on social media. Cattrall alleged the sentiment was disingenuous.
“My mom asked me today, ‘When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?'” Cattrall posted to her Instagram account with a link to a New York Post article that speculated about the original show’s toxic workplace culture.
“Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already.) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona,” Cattrall concluded.
But how will the HBO Max revival address Samantha’s absence?
For one, HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys revealed to TV Line that they are not trying to do a remake.
“They’re not trying to say that these characters are reliving their 30s. It is very much a story about women in their 50s, and they are dealing with things that people deal with in their 50s,” Bloys said, adding that “friendships fade” and that Samantha’s absence will be addressed “organically” in the new series.