Samantha Jones dominated the PR surprise of the summer: Kim Cattrall will appear in “And Just Like That.”
Cattrall, who publicly stepped down from playing the iconic ‘Sex and the City’ fan-favorite character in 2016, will appear in a scene in the Max revival series, as reported by Variety. Cattrall was set to film her scene on March 22 in New York City, but she didn’t appear alongside any of the series’ cast members, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis.
IndieWire has reached out to Max’s reps for comment.
Samantha moved to London between the events of the second film and the start of “And Just Like That,” falling out with Carrie Bradshaw (Parker) after she fired her as her publicist. According to Variety, the “And Just Like That” sequence with Cattrall shows Samantha making a phone call with Carrie. The season 1 finale of “AJLT” saw Carrie planning a meeting with Samantha while she was in Paris spreading the ashes of her late husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
Showrunner Michael Patrick King previously said in February 2022 that Cattrall would never be considered to appear in “AJLT.”
“Kim was never thought to be on ‘And Just Like That’ because she said what she said… You have to look at the reality of something: you can literallyNothave an actress play a part,” King explained. “Thinking magically, it’s great to have Samantha (but) I have no realistic expectation that Kim Cattrall will ever appear again.”
However, Cattrall’s Samantha and Parker’s Carrie communicated via text message in “AJLT” as literal writing to still include the original lead character.
Cattrall explained why he turned down a script for a third ‘Sex and the City’ movie in 2017.
“The series is basically the third film. That’s how creative it was,” Cattrall said. “I’ve never been asked to be a part of the reboot. I made my feelings clear after the possible third film, then found out like everyone else did — on social media.
Samantha was reportedly part of a “heartbreaking” storyline that involved her receiving unwanted “cock pics” from Miranda’s son Brady, then 14 at the time of the anticipated third film and now in high school on “AJLT.”
Cattrall summed up: “It is great wisdom to know when enough is enough. I also didn’t want to compromise what the show was to me. The way forward seemed clear. Everything in me said, “I’m done.” And you can’t go against that feeling. I never want to be on a set and I don’t want to be there.
The second season of “And Just Like That” will debut on June 22 and will also see the return of Carrie’s ex Aidan, played by John Corbett.
