While Chris Noth’s Mr. Big was killed off And Just Like That season 1, the remaining characters are still processing his loss in season 2.
“[Big’s death] is in a way [a story line] you wouldn’t expect … but it comes out in ways that you wouldn’t expect it to be,” Sarita Choudhury, who portrays Seema Patel on AJLT, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, June 13. “It’s gonna affect [Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw] in [one] scene ‘cause she’s really ready for life again. So you think she’s all fine, but there were one or two moments that moved me [because] I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think she’d be vulnerable there, you know?’”
And Just Like That — a modern-day revival of Sex and the City — premiered in December 2021, as Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) navigated their friendships and relationships in their 50s. Carrie, for her part, grieved the loss of her husband, Mr. Big, after his tragic death via a grueling Peloton workout. (Noth’s exit came on the heels of the 68-year-old actor’s sexual misconduct scandal, which he has denied.)
Choudhury, 56, further noted to Us that the loss of Big was the most heartbreaking scene from the debut season. “I mean, probably the death last season, like, if that hadn’t happened, there’s probably so many [scenes] that I can go to, but I just never seen that expression in her,” she said on Tuesday.
By the end of AJLT season 1, Carrie traveled to Paris — where she and Big initially rekindled their on-off romance at the end of the HBO drama — to scatter his ashes. She is expected to move on in season 2 with her former flame Aidan Shaw (John Corbett). The twosome were spotted packing on the PDA in photographs from set and in the teaser trailer.
While Choudhury confesses that Team Aidan fans will be “completely” satisfied by Corbett’s return and rekindled romance with Carrie, it is not a matter of simply picking up where they left off.
“You have to remember, Aidan and Carrie are different people, a little bit, now,” the Evil Eye actress explained. “So it’s also, you’re gonna get to know them together, who they are now. The question [of if fans will be satisfied] almost doesn’t work because they’re different people. So that’s what’s gonna be interesting for you, is who are they now? And, do you like them now?”
And Just Like That — which returns to MAX later this month — will also see other love stories blossom this season. Choudhury even told Us that she hopes Seema will find The One in upcoming episodes.
“I do but then when you [asked about her relationship goals], I was like, ‘Oh, but then that would mean I couldn’t have so much fun,’” Choudhury confessed. “Ultimately, I do because I’d love to see who she is [when her] heart [is completely] relaxed.”
Choudhury’s Seema was one of the new characters introduced in And Just Like That, quickly bonding with Carrie over a mutual interest in fashion and navigating the dating scene in New York City at their age.
“[Fans are] not only seeing them sexually active but that mistakes happen to them and how do they deal with it? I think that’s what’s gonna get people to be like, ‘Why am I hiding at home watching Netflix? I gotta go out,’” she added on Tuesday. “Like, I can deal with embarrassment, I can deal with rejection because when we were in our 20s, we got rejected all the time, you know, so why can’t we get rejected in our fifties? Go for it.”
And Just Like That season 2 premieres on MAX Thursday, June 22.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
