Are you a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, or Samantha?
That’s a question that women — and some men — have been asking each other for years. In her new book, titled “Sex and the City and Us,” author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong details the origins of what would become a Bible on how to live as a thirtysomething single woman in New York City. Armstrong’s behind-the-scenes account is based on several interviews with those involved with the popular HBO series, including Sarah Jessica Parker, along with a multitude of research materials.
Here are 13 little-known-facts from Armstrong’s book about the show that helped define a generation of women.
Candace Bushnell, the writer of the real-life “Sex and the City” column for the New York Observer, created the pseudonym Carrie Bradshaw so her parents could at least pretend they weren’t reading about their daughter’s sex life.
We all know that “SATC” eventually landed at HBO (which was known as a “guy’s channel” in the 1990s because of its boxing matches and penchant for female nudity), but other networks were interested in the project from Darren Star, too. Particularly ABC Entertainment president Jamie Tarses, who was the youngest person to run an entertainment network division at that time (in 1996) and the first female network president ever. She ultimately lost the project to HBO, which offered more creative freedom. Author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong describes “SATC” in her new book as “that one pop of bright pink in the middle of HBO’s gritty, dark, predominantly male lineup.”
Cynthia Nixon was another New York actress who Darren Star thought would be perfect for the show. The only problem? Like Carrie and Samantha, Nixon was blonde. As Armstrong writes, “Three blondes seemed like… a lot of blondes.” But the character that Star based Miranda on had red hair, and so Nixon agreed to dye hers.
Sarah Jessica Parker was hesitant to join the project at first, even though show creator Darren Star had the actress in mind when crafting Carrie Bradshaw, according to Armstrong’s new book. Parker, who was planning her wedding to Matthew Broderick at the time, and starring in at least one play a year, was afraid that committing to a TV series would conflict with her schedule. But once she began working (the show filmed in New York, where Parker still lives) she realized it wasn’t a typical TV show.
Unlike Parker, actress Kristin Davis was dying to join “Sex and the City.” She worked with Darren Star on his previous show, “Melrose Place,” and was trying to prove her comedic chops with roles in “Seinfeld” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” When she learned about the good-girl role of Charlotte, she knew she’d be perfect. After a tough round of auditions, Davis was told that Charlotte might end up being a recurring character, not a regular. Davis decided that when they shot the pilot she would prove that she should be a regular, — and obviously succeeded.
Casting Samantha Jones was the big challenge because Star knew that in the wrong hands, the character could become a Jessica Rabbit-like stereotype, Armstrong writes in her new book. Kim Cattrall, much older than the other three actresses, was afraid she was too “over the hill” for such a sexy role. But after meeting Star, he assuaged her fears and she jumped right in.
Reports of discord between Kim Catrall and Sarah Jessica Parker date back to 2001, according to Armstrong, who writes that Catrall’s grievances ranged from lower pay than other cast members to losing a marriage to the show. She didn’t want the show to end when it did in 2004, Armstrong writes, and resented being excluded from the decision to wrap up “Sex and the City.”
Writer Jenny Bicks was the only female staffer in the early days of the show. Armstrong writes it could lead to some humorous incidents in the writers’ room. “Once, she had to draw a detailed diagram of women’s sex organs on a dry-erase board to explain some basic mechanics to [Michael Patrick] King and Star,” Armstrong writes. “As much as they knew their way around a TV script, they did not know their way around a vulva and clitoris.”
If you know even the smallest amount about “SATC,” then you know that fashion is paramount. In fact, Parker has called fashion the “fifth character.” Costume designer Patricia Field joined the show in the second episode, creating iconic looks like the naked dress, Carrie’s opening credits tutu, and the nameplate necklace.
In Season 2, show writers decided it was time to include a more sympathetic male character. And that arrived in the form of Miranda’s bartending beau, Steve, played by David Eigenberg. Although Steve and Miranda had great chemistry on screen, the actors’ relationship off screen was strictly professional. Eigenberg looked up to Nixon, Armstrong writes. She said that this was his philosophy: “If you want to be a better tennis player, play with somebody who’s better than you.”
By Season 3, “SATC” was so popular that if a restaurant or neighborhood popped up in an episode, it would soon be overrun by tourists. In fact, the show was blamed for “ruining” the industrial meatpacking district after Samantha moved there in Season 3. The show was also responsible for around-the-block lines at Magnolia Bakery and an explosion of Cosmo drinkers. “Like cupcakes, drinks offered a simple, affordable way to get a dose of the ‘Sex and the City’ glamour,” Armstrong writes.
The storylines in “SATC” were based on real things that happened to the writers. Several of the women on the writing team lived in Manhattan, but worked at Silvercup Studios in Queens. A generic white van would tote them to and from work. During their car rides, Cindy Chupack, Jenny Bicks, and Julie Rottenberg would dissect each other’s love lives and decide what would be best to glean for the show. Chupack approached dating much like a Charlotte and Bicks identified more as a Miranda, Armstrong says.
The only scene in the entire series that was completely reshot is also one of the most memorable: Carrie and Aiden’s giant fight scene. The first time through, Field’s vision for Carrie’s outfit was, as writer and eventual showrunner Michael Patrick King put it, “a little too wild.” She had Carrie showing up in a floppy hat, a frilly collar and a shirt printed with “CHASTITY.” They shot the scene and show makers determined it was too much, so they sent Parker and John Corbett back to wardrobe. When they returned, Parker was wearing a turquoise tube top and Corbett was wearing a plain T-shirt. They shot the scene again, and everyone agreed it was perfect.
