Cynthia Nixon revealed to “Sex and the City” co-star Kristin Davis on Monday that when she joined the HBO comedy as Miranda, she thought another famous “Kristin” had been cast as Charlotte: “I didn’t know who you were,” she said.
The other Kristin in question? British actress and recently a Best Actress Oscar nominee for “The English Patient,” Kristin Scott Thomas.
Nixon, who played Miranda on the hit HBO series, stopped by Davis’ “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast on Monday and talked about the funny case of mistaken identity as well as their experience on the initial episodes working together.
“Sarah [Jessica Parker] and I knew each other quite well. We’d worked together a bunch of times, and we were always auditioning for the same parts and stuff when we were kids,” Nixon said. “And Kim [Cattrall], I knew a little bit, I’d seen her in a few things.”
“I didn’t know who you were,” Nixon added as Davis burst into laughter.
“But I looked at the way you spelled your first name with an ‘i,’ which is unusual — with two i’s. And I basically — I decided you were Kristin Scott Thomas. I was like, it must be Kristin — that must be Kristin Scott Thomas.”
The two actors talked about how they likely had not met because Nixon was always based in New York and worked successfully on Broadway, while Davis was based in L.A. and known mostly for her role as Brooke Armstrong Campbell on Darren Star’s “Melrose Place.”
“You must have been really disappointed,” Davis said with a light, mocking tone.
Nixon bashfully admitted she did not really know who Thomas was, either. Thomas was just starting to break into the U.S. market at the time and was known for her BAFTA-winning role in the beloved romantic comedy “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”
Davis then described Thomas, adding she was “British” and “beautiful,” to which Nixon jokingly replied that, of course, she knows who the Academy Award-winning actress is now.
“That’s adorable that you thought you were going to do the pilot of ‘Sex and the City’ with Kristin Scott Thomas,” Davis said. “I mean, I wish I was Kristin Scott Thomas.”
“I don’t wish you were,” Nixon replied. “No. I’m glad you’re you.”
The other surprising revelation from Nixon’s podcast appearance was that she did not feel like she and Miranda shared a lot in common, adding that she was married with a young child and felt “very domestic” at the time. “We both feel confident about our brains, but that’s about where it ends.”
You can watch the full “Are You a Charlotte?” episode here.
