Since the launch of the Sex and the City spin-off in 2021, fans have been clamouring for a glimpse of one of the show’s most beloved characters – Samantha Jones.
Now it has been revealed that Kim Cattrall will reprise the iconic role in the season two finale of the reboot And Just Like That, according to Variety.
But Cattrall will only appear in one scene, and the actress shot her dialogue without seeing or speaking with the stars of the series, including Sarah Jessica Parker.
Cattrall has previously spoken of tension between herself and Parker, after her decision to step away from the show led to a public fallout.
In the scene Samantha, who in the show has moved to London and is estranged from the group after a disagreement, will have a phone call with Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw.
In the first season of And Just Like That, Carrie spoke to Samantha over text and, in the finale, the two planned to see each other in order to make up.
Cattrall earned five Emmy nominations for playing Samantha on Sex and the City.
Why was Kim Cattrall not involved in And Just Like That?
After six seasons of the iconic HBO show and two feature-length films, Cattrall rejected the offer to reprise her character for a third film, which was subsequently cancelled.
She publicly announced in 2016 that she would no longer be playing Samantha, as she didn’t feel like the script for a proposed third film did justice to the character.
“I would have preferred for all of us to have some kind of event to warrant a third film,” Cattrall told Variety in 2022. “That didn’t happen.”
“It’s a great wisdom to know when enough is enough. I also didn’t want to compromise what the show was to me. The way forward seemed clear.”
When the spin-off was announced, Parker also addressed Cattrall’s absence. “We did not ask her to be part of this because she made it clear that that wasn’t something she wanted to pursue, and it no longer felt comfortable for us, and so it didn’t occur to us,” she said. “That’s not ‘slamming’ her, it’s just learning.
“You’ve got to listen to somebody and, if they’re publicly talking about something and it doesn’t suggest it’s someplace they want to be, or a person they want to play, or an environment in which they want to be, you get to an age where you’re like, ‘Well, we hear that.’”
What happened between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker?
In 2017, Cattrall spoke of tension between herself and Parker. “I think she could’ve been nicer,” she told Piers Morgan. “I really think she could’ve been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is.”
The following year, Parker said she was “heartbroken” by her comments.
“I’ve spent a lot of years working really hard to always be decent to everybody on the set, to take care of people,” Parker told the Hollywood Reporter’s awards podcast. “And there just isn’t anyone else who’s ever talked about me this way, so it’s very painful.”
When Parker reached out to Cattrall after the death of her brother in 2018, Cattrall publicly rebuffed her olive branch. “Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now,” she claimed in an Instagram post.
She went on: “You are not my family. You are not my friend,” and urged Parker to “stop exploiting our tragedy”.
However, Parker now claims that, as far as she is concerned, there is no animosity between them.
“It’s so painful for people to keep talking about this ‘catfight’ — a fight, a fight, a fight. I’ve never uttered fighting words in my life about anybody that I’ve worked with ever. There is not a ‘fight’ going on,” Parker said last year.
When will the second season of And Just Like That be released?
The second season of And Just Like That also premieres on June 22, but Cattrall’s scene as Samantha won’t air until August.
