Kim Cattrall Almost Wasn't in 'Sex and the City' For This Surprising Reason

How crazy would that have been?

Kim Cattrall
Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Nina Ricci

It’s nearly impossible to picture Sex and the City without Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones—the bold, fearless, unapologetically confident PR queen who basically redefined sexy on TV. But according to Cattrall, the role almost didn’t happen.

In a recent interview with The Times, the actress revealed that she actually turned the role down four times before finally saying yes. Why the hesitation? Her age. “Self-inflicted ageism,” she admitted with a laugh. “Well, that changed—40 became sexy. It became, ‘Man, let’s have more of that.’”

Cattrall, who was 41 when the show began, didn’t initially believe that audiences would view someone her age as a sex symbol. Spoiler alert: they did. And then some.

“She wasn’t a nymphomaniac—well, some people might have thought she was—but she was just enjoying the main course. Everyone else was nibbling on the appetisers when she was going for the steak. And it was always on her terms — that I always insisted on,” she explained. “But,” she added, “I’m the antithesis of her [Samantha] in many ways. I’m a serial monogamist, and then some.”

But Kim wasn’t the only almost-miss for the iconic cast. Sarah Jessica Parker also nearly backed out after just one episode. While chatting with Kristin Davis on her podcast Are You a Charlotte?, SJP shared, “I panicked. When the show was picked up, I was like, ‘I can’t be on a TV show! I don’t think I’m suited for that life.’”

She went on to explain that the thought of doing the same thing repeatedly made her feel boxed in—until then-HBO chairman Chris Albrecht convinced her to stick around for one year, just to try it out.

Luckily for us, both women stayed. And honestly, Sex and the City wouldn’t have been the same without them.

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