Dear Gossips,
Kim Cattrall is one of six women, alongside Venus Williams, Drew Barrymore, Queen Latifah, Camila Cabello, and Amanda Seyfried in the new Power of Women issue. In a feature with the magazine she speaks for the first time about And Just Like That… which of course is making headlines today.
For years now we’ve been hearing about the conflict between Kim and Sarah Jessica Parker and most assumed that that was the reason Kim did not return to play Samantha in the new series. As she explains it, while there obviously were issues between them, this decision for her was about the character, about the story – in other words, about the work. Kim makes it clear that she loves Samantha, she speaks warmly about the role, and how it evolved, the thought she put into creating her, and discovering her too.
But And Just Like That…, the series, was built off what would have been a third Sex and the City movie – and one of the plot points for Samantha in the script for that series was that she was supposed to be sent a dick pic from Miranda’s teenage son, Brady. We can all probably agree that that’s a terrible idea, right? Kim wasn’t interested, and she’s right; a storyline like that doesn’t advance the character. She was protecting the character that she will always be associated with, the character that she breathed life into. In its own way, this is work too.
Speaking of work though, there are other details worth discussing coming out of her interview with Ramin Setoodeh, who does an excellent job engaging with Kim about her career and her choices.
“She reveals that she became a U.S. citizen in 2020, and she lost her health insurance from SAG-AFTRA during the pandemic after not working for a stretch of time.
As a result, Cattrall has decided to honor The Actors Fund, the nonprofit that offers financial and health assistance to performers and behind-the-scenes crew, during Variety’s Power of Women dinner on May 5. “It’s so filled with shame if you’re not working or you’re not wanted,” she says. “Thank God I turned 65 and went on Medicare and I have a nest egg. But that’s scary, how vulnerable you could be.”
This is the reality for so many people who are so critical to the entertainment industry but who aren’t visible when we’re watching what they help produce. For the headliners we’re familiar with, at the top of the call sheet, it can be a career bonus to take a break, and be invisible for a while; they can certainly afford it. They’re the minority in the business though – almost everyone else has to keep going. And almost everyone is not as fortunate as Kim to have been at the age to get on Medicare and have enough savings.
I also loved what she shared about working now, at 65 years old, and finally having an intimacy coordinator on set.
“I had my first nonbinary love scene [in Queer as Folk]. And for the first time in my career, I was introduced to someone who had the position on a set that I had no idea what they did — her heading was “intimacy coach.” I thought, “Excuse me?!?” I never had an intimacy coach. It was fantastic. Instead of someone from the wardrobe department holding a housecoat for you when they said cut or putting a towel over you, they had this person there who’d say: “OK, stop! We need this protected there.” It was like a fairy godmother.”
She also shared that during her love scenes on Sex and the City, “the most I ever got was for Pat Field to make this — she called it a “K.C. Cup” that would cover, like a jockstrap, both actors if the scene required it.”
What is a K.C. Cup?
A Kim Cattrall Cup!
Imagine having that kind of wardrobe accessory named after you for specifically that reason? I wonder… if it’s been archived.
Head to Variety for Ramin’s full interview with Kim Cattrall.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
