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Sarah Jessica Parker says she initially wanted out of 'Sex and the City'

Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News on

Published in Entertainment News

NEW YORK — Sarah Jessica Parker says she initially didn’t want to star in “Sex and the City” — but not for the obvious reasons.

The Emmy-winning actress revealed this week that when the sex-fueled sitcom was first pitched to her, she didn’t believe it would become the cultural touchstone that it has. In fact, she wasn’t too thrilled about committing to another TV series.

Parker, a former child actress who starred on shows such as “Square Pegs” and “A Year in the Life” in the 1980s, made the revelation on the latest episode of the “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast, hosted by her “Sex and the City” co-star Kristin Davis.

The 60-year-old recalled how months after shooting the pilot for the New York City-based series in 1997, she didn’t think much of it when a producer stopped her on the street to say how good it was.

But after HBO gave the show the greenlight, she said was in a state of panic.

“When the show was picked up, I was like, ‘I can’t be on a TV show! I don’t think I’m suited for that life,” she shared. “I think that it was the idea of doing the same thing over and over and over again.”

 

Parker admitted that her experience on “Square Pegs,” while it only lasted one season, “kind of depressed me.”

She said she asked her agent to get her out of doing “Sex and the City,” even offering film options with HBO as an alternative to fulfill her contract.

But thankfully for the millions of “Sex and the City” fans, the unidentified agent successfully convinced her to take the life-changing role.

“He said, ‘It can be wonderful. It can be great.’ And the beauty of HBO [at the time] was that it was kind of an unknown species,” Parker said. “[Former HBO chairman] Chris Albrecht said, ‘Do it for a year, and if you don’t want to do it anymore, we don’t do it.'”


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