Deja vu? Lisa Edelstein is currently the star of a hit Bravo show about women navigating the twists and turns of life together — and as it turns out, the Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce actress very nearly embarked on a similar journey almost 20 years ago.
Edelstein, who is perhaps best known for her seven-season turn as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on House M.D., was initially in the running to play Carrie Bradshaw on Darren Star’s Sex and the City, a character ultimately made iconic by Sarah Jessica Parker.
“It wasn’t a rumor,” she told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on the Tuesday, February 2, episode of Access Hollywood Live, referring to speculation that she was being seriously considered for the coveted role. “That actually happened.”
“I was either going to do it or not,” she said of playing the Big Apple heroine. “It all depended on whether [Sarah Jessica Parker] said yes. My contract was complete. I was waiting.”
In the end, of course, Parker decided to take the role, leaving the now-49-year-old brunette actress to launch her storied career another way.
The House M.D. alum has since had roles on Felicity, Castle, The Good Wife and Scandal.
And though she chose not to watch Sex and the City when it aired between 1998 and 2004 (“It was too painful,” she said), she welcomes the coincidental similarities between that series and Girlfriends’ Guide.
“I love the comparisons now,” she said. “It’s sort of a funny thing, that when life comes around that way.”
