Chris Noth weighs in on Kim Cattrall’s falling out with SJP

Speaking to The Guardian ahead of the And Just Like That premiere later this week, Noth discussed everything from bereavement to rebellion, the fun of acting, and how he really feels about Kim Cattrall’s absence. 

“I’m not supposed to talk for this long. I told my publicist beforehand: ‘I need to keep this short so I don’t give quotes I’ll regret,’” the actor laughed to his interviewer, Hadley Freeman. Any article that begins as such is bound to be good, and this one certainly delivered.

Initially, presuming him to be “a reluctant interviewee” – an impression Freeman formed based on how he came across in previous interviews – Noth proved to be much more forthcoming than expected, and, unlike many others, didn’t shy away from the controversial topics. Like the small matter of Kim Cattrall relationship with SJP, for example. 

So, why does he think she isn’t in the new series? “I have to tell you, I have absolutely no idea what her thinking is, or her emotions. I do know that I’m very close with SJ and [Cattrall’s] descriptions of her don’t even come close,” Noth replied, referencing the alleged “feud” between the two women. “I liked her, I thought she was marvellous in the show,” he continued. “Some people move on for their own reasons. I don’t know what hers were. I just wish that whole thing had never happened because it was sad and uncomfortable.”

Rumours of the supposed chilliness between the two women date all the way back to 2004 but things really came to a head in 2018 when SJP left a comment under one of Cattrall’s Instagram posts. Sending her condolences to her former co-star in light of her brother’s death, Cattrall accused Parker of being “cruel” and a “hypocrite”.

Later asked as to whether it put the rest of the cast in an awkward position, Noth said that he “just [doesn’t] like to see anyone talking down about SJ”. “She’s a target and people can be nasty. I feel very protective of her,” he admitted. “I was not happy about that. That’s all I’ll say about that.” 

Not immediately keen to return to the show himself, it took a bit of convincing for him to agree to the project – partly because he didn’t want to ruin what they had built with the original series… though the movies kind of already did that. Dancing around the subject of whether he liked them or not, he did say that he “was a little uncomfortable” with how the issues between Carrie and Big were resolved in the second movie. “I don’t remember [the films], to tell you the truth. I just remember the series being a lot of fun. I saw the movies once at the premieres and that was it.”

Noth was also hesitant to return as he felt he had taken Big as far as he could. A conversation with the show’s writer and director, Michael Patrick King, convinced him otherwise, and together they found a way to work him into the story. Surprisingly, the former Law & Order star doesn’t consider Mr Big to be an alpha-male type at all. “I never saw him as an alpha male… But it’s true, I do get offers to play these power-broker types. I know how to put on a suit, but my wife put it perfectly when she said: ‘I don’t think people realise that you’re kind of schlubby,’” he joked

“I say this all the time to SJ: I’ve been riding on the coat-tails of female actors for a long time, and it’s carried me along,” he finished, before finally adding that the main thing he learned from working with the SATC women was to “never underestimate a woman’s opinion”. 

Words to live by.