Kim Cattrall’s and Just Like That… Cameo Was Supposed To Be a Surprise

When news of Kim Cattrall‘s cameo in the upcoming second season of And Just Like That… broke last month, viewers were shocked and excited. Fans of the liberated and independent Samantha Jones rejoiced, but many wondered what had transpired off-screen to make Cattrall return to the Sex and the City franchise. Cattrall has been vocal about her disinterest in reprising the role or reuniting with her former castmates for years. But things change, and Cattrall will make a brief appearance during the second season finale of the Sex and the City follow-up series.

In a recent conversation with PEOPLE, AJLT writer and director Michael Patrick King commented Cattrall’s unexpected return:

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“I don’t know what happened, because we didn’t start the season thinking this. Some sort of universal magic shifted. I don’t know whether the fans manifested this. I don’t know what happened. Maybe something about the 25th anniversary brought a lot of energy forward, and all of a sudden Kim was like, ‘All right, I’ll make a stop by.'”

King is pleased with Catrall’s cameo, calling it a “lovely treat” and “nostalgic and emotional,” but is disappointed with one aspect of Samantha’s return:

“The only bad news is that you know about it,” he shared. “Everyone else about this is good news except that you know it’s coming. It would’ve blown your mind!”

It’s a similar statement to one made by series star Cynthia Nixon to Deadline:

“We worked so hard to keep it under wraps. It was going to be this wonderful [gasps] moment for people watching the episode. Now that everybody knows she’s coming back, we’re pretty disappointed. It’s not like that much happens, it’s a really tiny very tiny little cameo. I worry that so much of the firepower of it was the surprise. You know, it is what it is.”

Related: And Just Like That’s Kristin Davis Comments on Kim Cattrall Drama

Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker Off-Screen

HBO

Throughout Sex and the City’s run, Cattrall’s Samantha and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw were the best of friends, but things were very different off-screen. For years, there was speculation that the women were feuding, and it was publicly confirmed in 2018 following the death of Cattrall’s brother. When Parker expressed her condolences through social media, Cattrall called Parker “cruel,” before adding, “you are not my friend.”

After AJLT premiered in 2021, Cattrall was often asked if she would ever reprise the role of Samantha. She remained adamant that she wouldn’t, even telling Variety: “That’s a no. It’s powerful to say no.”

Cattrall starred as the beloved Samantha through all six seasons of Sex and the City, earning two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award. She reprised the role for the series’ follow-up films but declined to appear in a third film that, ultimately, never transpired. Although Samantha was not physically present in AJLT there was mention of her character, with Parker saying the friendship between Carrie and Samantha was “conducted through text.”

“Well, I won’t tease more than was already leaked, except to say that we had this idea that was a nice way of acknowledging the 25 years. Samantha existed on the show in the first season, their friendship is conducted through text. She’s living in London and you’ll see more of that this season prior to when the face accompanies the text. It’s just a very nice, quick moment. A phone call that happens at a very opportune time in the story. It’s sentimental, it’s funny, and it is a perfect portrait of their friendship,” Parker told Deadline.

The first two episodes of the second season of AJLT premiere Thursday, June 22, on Max.

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