Sarah Jessica Parker was “excited” when she first learned John Corbett’s Aidan Shaw would be returning to the world of “Sex and the City” on Max’s hit spin-off series “And Just Like That.”
“I was especially excited, probably in large part, because I just love working with John Corbett so much,” Parker told TheWrap in an interview conducted ahead of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “We just think he is very special and brings so much more — always — than what’s even written.”
Parker, an executive producer on the series, first learned of Corbett’s return in a preseason meeting with “And Just Like That” showrunner and executive producer, Michael Patrick King. Typically, King would pitch Parker on what he wants to do three or four months before the writers meet. These meetings focused on storylines specific to her character Carrie, the season’s overall theme and other actors’ storylines. That’s when Aidan first made his reentrance.
“I tend to trust Michael, almost implicitly, about his instincts,” Parker said. “I could easily recognize and understand that the Carrie-Aidan relationship is worthy of revisiting and that they might find one another again, given that Carrie is now single and that relationship was important and probably ended not in an ideal way.”
Aidan has long be a fan-favorite love interest for “Sex and the City” viewers. But Carrie’s multiple breakups with the furniture designer have always been thorny.
The two first met in Season 3’s “No Ifs, Ands, Or Butts.” Later in the season, they broke up after Aidan learned Carrie was having an affair with her ex and future husband, Big (Chris Noth). Though they managed to rekindle their relationship in Season 4, it was never quite the same. Aidan was still suspicious of Carrie’s close friendship with Big, and when Aidan finally proposed, Carrie couldn’t bring herself to actually wear the engagement ring.
The last time audiences saw Aidan on the series was in Season 6. Then, in 2010’s “Sex and the City 2” movie, the former flames ran into each other on the streets of Abu Dhabi, where they got dinner, caught up on their respective lives (Aidan was married with children) and regrettably shared a kiss.
New episodes of “And Just Like That” premiere Thursdays on Max.
