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- New York Post
Kim Cattrall reveals she turned down ‘Sex and the City' 4 times — for a surprising reason
And just like that, Samantha nearly wasn't in 'Sex and the City.'
Kim Cattrall, 68, who starred as Samantha Jones in 'Sex and the City,' told The Times of London in a profile published Thursday that she originally turned down the role four times because of 'self inflicted ageism.'
At the time, she was 41 and didn't think audiences would find a woman that age sexy, she explained.
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'Well, that changed — 40 became sexy. It became, 'Man, let's have more of that,'' she quipped.
8 Kim Cattrall in 'Sex And The City' in 1999.
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8 Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis in 2010's movie 'Sex and the City 2.'
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
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Cattrall played the brash publicist Samantha Jones from 1998 to 2004, and reprised the role for spinoff films in 2008 and 2010.
The original show followed Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), and her friends Samantha, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) through dating adventures in New York City.
'She wasn't a nymphomaniac — well, some people might have thought she was — but she was just enjoying the main course,' Cattrall said about Samantha.
8 Kim Cattrall in 1987.
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'Everyone else was nibbling on the appetisers when she was going for the steak. And it was always on her terms — that I always insisted on.'
She added, 'But, I'm the antithesis of her [Samantha] in many ways. I'm a serial monogamist, and then some.'
Cattrall notably isn't in the spinoff show 'And Just Like That,' which is now in Season 3 on Max, following Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte in their 50s, sans Samantha.
Her absence from the spinoff comes amid behind-the-scenes cast feud rumors, which SJP has denied – but Cattrall did make a brief cameo in 'And Just Like That' Season 2.
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8 Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and Kim Cattrall of 'Sex and the City' pose for a portrait in 2002.
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8 Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kristin Davis in 'And Just Like That.'
Photograph by Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max
In the years following 'Sex and the City,' Cattrall hit the UK stage, in plays such as a revival of Noël Coward's 'Private Lives' in the West End of London with 'Succession' star Matthew Macfadyen.
'One of the things that was so attractive about coming to work in the UK was that they saw an actor. In America, they saw her,' Cattrall said, referring to Samantha.
'And in America I was perceived as a woman of a certain age, whereas in England I was perceived [simply] as a woman.'
8 Kim Cattrall attends the Nina Ricci Womenswear Fall/Winter 2025-2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week at Hotel Salomon de Rothschild on March 07, 2025 in Paris, France.
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8 Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis in 2010's 'Sex and the City 2.'
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
As she now gets closer to 70, Cattrall said, 'I'm in this sort of category now of the wise older woman. Which makes me laugh because nobody knows anything.'
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Cattrall is currently in a relationship with Russell Thomas, 54, who was an actor working for the BBC when they met.
'He's had an incredibly interesting life and really done it on his terms. He's a bit of a rebel, which I love,' she said, adding that the couple has been together for nearly ten years and 'we've had a blast.'
8 Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon pose for a portrait in 2000 for 'Sex And The City.'
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After Cattrall suffered hard times – such as her brother Christopher dying by suicide in 2018 at age 55 – she said, 'I keep saying I wish I hadn't gone through all that. And then I thought to myself, well, if I hadn't have gone through that, I wouldn't have met Russ. So life has surprises and trade-offs. It was a bad time, but I learned a tremendous amount. And at the other end of it was this incredible, fun playmate.'
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Despite her rumored bad blood with Parker and her fellow former 'Sex and the City' cast mates, Cattrall said that she's fine with the show being her legacy.
'I created a fantastic character that I loved, and I put a lot of love in it,' she told The Times of London. 'If I'm remembered only for that, then that's really OK.'
