Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis' Secret SATC Audition Drama: Both Wanted Carrie's Shoes

6 June 2023 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of one of HBO's most iconic shows, Sex and the City. Having premiered in 1998, SATC won over viewers from all over the globe and became an instant hit.

Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't heard of it, and the show's characters have become household names.

Revolving around Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte, four friends in New York, Sex and the City offered a revolutionary portrayal of everyday life in a big city from a uniquely female perspective. It empowered women worldwide by showing modern life the way women see it. Narrated by Carrie Bradshaw, SATC's central character played by Sarah Jessica Parker, the show had a recognisable voice. However, it could have been completely different.

In a recent celebratory episode of And Just Like That… The Writers Room Podcast, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, who portrayed Miranda and Charlotte, respectively, revealed that they had also auditioned for the Carrie Bradshaw part. The two actresses told Michael Patrick King, a writer on SATC, an executive producer on AJLT, and the podcast's host that they had both tried for the role of the renowned columnist.

'He [SATC's creator Darren Star] sends me the script… with a letter or, maybe, he called me and said, "You know, we really want Sarah Jessica, and she's worried, and she may not do it. So you need to read for Carrie,"' Kristin Davis shared. '[In] the original script Carrie was much more like Candice, and she smoked, and she swore. I remember one line in the script that said, "Carrie has the body of Heather Locklear and the mind of Dorothy Parker." And I was like that is adorable but I can't play that part!'

Furthermore, Davis had to convince Star she wasn't a good fit for Carrie and asked him for the role of Charlotte instead.

'I was like, "Darren, I can't play Carrie! I can't even read for Carrie! I am this other girl who’s like underwritten but I understand her, OK. I need to be her!"' the actress told King and her co-stars.

Remarkably, Cynthia Nixon was gunning for Carrie specifically. The actress revealed that she didn't have a job and had her eyes on SATC, one of the few shows that were actually being filmed on location in New York, specifically, the Bradshaw part that she was invited to audition for.

Nonetheless, Nixon was dismissed as Carrie after the first audition but continued trying for other roles. Ultimately, she got to play Miranda Hobbes, which seemed to be a tall order for her agent, who had to cry on the phone with the producers for that to happen.

'They auditioned me a lot of times, I don't remember how many times. And then I also tested in New York,' Cynthia Nixon said. 'Two weeks came and went, and nothing… My manager Emily, who was at that time my agent, kept, you know, pushing them. And they would always say the same thing, "We like her. She's the top of the list. We haven't found anyone we like better, but we're just not ready to pull the trigger."'

In the end, Cynthia and Kristin got the roles we love them for. And the actresses will reprise them in season 2 of And Just Like That…, which is coming on 22 June.

Source: YouTube.