Biggest ‘And Just Like That’ Documentary Bombshells: Fashion Choices, Original Love Interests and More

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

Biggest ‘And Just Like That’ Documentary Bombshells: Fashion Choices, Original Love Interests and More

And just like that, the Sex and the City cast is spilling all! After ten highly anticipated episodes of HBO Max’s And Just Like That, Carrie Bradshaw and her SATC cohorts have ushered in a new era of their New York-based lives as postmenopausal women — and are reflecting on season 1.

The revival, which premiered in December 2021, made headlines after it was previously confirmed that the new episodes would star Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt) living their best NYC lives. However, Kim Cattrall — who played Samantha Jones in the original series and both feature films — did not return after rumors of a previous set feud with the 56-year-old Hocus Pocus star.

“I knew Kim had moved on from playing Samantha,” Michael Patrick King explained in And Just Like That … The Documentary, which premiered on Thursday, February 3. “I realized, 'Oh, we can have them mirror a split that people already know, but make it really Carrie and Samantha and heartfelt, the way you lose friends.'”

The 65-year-old How I Met Your Father star’s absence was explained in the first episode, with Carrie revealing that the twosome had a falling out after she fired Samantha as her book publicist amid new challenges in the publishing industry. Samantha, for her part, later relocated to London and didn’t keep in touch with her longtime friends.

“I understand that she was upset, but I thought I was more to her than an ATM,” Carrie told Miranda in the premiere. “I always thought the four of us would be friends forever.”

While Cattrall did not appear in the new show, her character briefly connected with Carrie via a series of text messages after the death of the sex columnist’s husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Samantha also sent an elaborate floral arrangement for his memorial.

“I think it’s handled very nicely and it's very gently peppered,” Parker said, briefly touching on how the revival addressed the Canada native’s absence in Thursday’s documentary special.

“And Just Like That was never, ever intended to be including Kim Cattrall because she decided she didn’t wanna play Samantha many, many years ago. We love Kim. I love Kim. I loved her Samantha, and I knew that everybody, including myself, had invested years in those four friendships,” showrunner Michael Patrick King previously told Us Weekly and other reporters in December 2021. “So, I didn’t want to pretend that there was an absence — or wasn’t an absence. I wanted to reflect the reality of the fact that there was one not joining. Story wise, I came up with the idea that Samantha’s in London because we didn’t want to kill her. We love Samantha. That’s ridiculous.”

Ahead of the doc’s premiere, a trailer made headlines after seemingly cutting an appearance from Noth in the wake of his sexual assault scandal. The Equalizer alum, 67, was not referenced in the documentary at all after several women publicly accused him of assault late last year. Noth's AJLT finale scenes were also cut.

The Wisconsin native, for his part, has continually denied the allegations.

“The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth previously told Us via a statement. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.”

And Just Like That … The Documentary is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

Scroll below to see the biggest AJLT revelations:

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

Biggest ‘And Just Like That’ Documentary Bombshells: Fashion Choices, Original Love Interests and More

And just like that, the Sex and the City cast is spilling all! After ten highly anticipated episodes of HBO Max’s And Just Like That, Carrie Bradshaw and her SATC cohorts have ushered in a new era of their New York-based lives as postmenopausal women — and are reflecting on season 1.

The revival, which premiered in December 2021, made headlines after it was previously confirmed that the new episodes would star Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt) living their best NYC lives. However, Kim Cattrall — who played Samantha Jones in the original series and both feature films — did not return after rumors of a previous set feud with the 56-year-old Hocus Pocus star.

“I knew Kim had moved on from playing Samantha,” Michael Patrick King explained in And Just Like That … The Documentary, which premiered on Thursday, February 3. “I realized, 'Oh, we can have them mirror a split that people already know, but make it really Carrie and Samantha and heartfelt, the way you lose friends.'”

The 65-year-old How I Met Your Father star’s absence was explained in the first episode, with Carrie revealing that the twosome had a falling out after she fired Samantha as her book publicist amid new challenges in the publishing industry. Samantha, for her part, later relocated to London and didn’t keep in touch with her longtime friends.

“I understand that she was upset, but I thought I was more to her than an ATM,” Carrie told Miranda in the premiere. “I always thought the four of us would be friends forever.”

While Cattrall did not appear in the new show, her character briefly connected with Carrie via a series of text messages after the death of the sex columnist’s husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Samantha also sent an elaborate floral arrangement for his memorial.

“I think it’s handled very nicely and it's very gently peppered,” Parker said, briefly touching on how the revival addressed the Canada native’s absence in Thursday’s documentary special.

“And Just Like That was never, ever intended to be including Kim Cattrall because she decided she didn’t wanna play Samantha many, many years ago. We love Kim. I love Kim. I loved her Samantha, and I knew that everybody, including myself, had invested years in those four friendships,” showrunner Michael Patrick King previously told Us Weekly and other reporters in December 2021. “So, I didn’t want to pretend that there was an absence — or wasn’t an absence. I wanted to reflect the reality of the fact that there was one not joining. Story wise, I came up with the idea that Samantha’s in London because we didn’t want to kill her. We love Samantha. That’s ridiculous.”

Ahead of the doc’s premiere, a trailer made headlines after seemingly cutting an appearance from Noth in the wake of his sexual assault scandal. The Equalizer alum, 67, was not referenced in the documentary at all after several women publicly accused him of assault late last year. Noth's AJLT finale scenes were also cut.

The Wisconsin native, for his part, has continually denied the allegations.

“The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth previously told Us via a statement. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.”

And Just Like That … The Documentary is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

Scroll below to see the biggest AJLT revelations:

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

Miranda and Che Weren’t Meant to Be

"Originally, when Michael was trying to think about what would happen in our season, he talked about Nya, Miranda's professor being the romantic relationship," Nixon revealed in the documentary, referencing Professor Nya Wallace (Karen Pittman). "Nya was a straight character and Miranda's a straight character and I was like, 'Well, that doesn't sound very sexy at all.' Two women who've gotten to this age and who are now just fumbling around. That doesn't seem great. And I was like, 'Why couldn't [Miranda's love interest] be this butch person you're talking about having for Carrie?’”


Throughout the documentary, the show creators revealed that the Grey’s Anatomy alum’s journey with their own identity inspired the character of podcaster and comedian Che Diaz. “I suggested [Sara Ramirez] because I’ve been aware of them for so long and such a fan,” the Gilded Age star explained.

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

Remembering Willie Garson

While filming, Garson (who played Stanford Blatch, Carrie’s best friend) died in September 2021 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. During taping, Parker was the only cast member who knew he was ill, as the group noted that he remained in good spirits throughout his AJLT scenes.


“If he could've stayed one more day, two more hours, three more weeks, he would've summoned the strength and pushed away the terrible pain that he was in. I mean like pain, like physical pain," the SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker designer emotionally noted in the documentary. "God, I can't believe I can't call Willie. I cannot believe I can't call him. I just can't believe it. And he would always tell me that he was the most popular character on the show — and he was not making a joke. He was quite serious. I was like, 'If you say so!' Turned out, he might've been right." 

Credit: New Line Cinema/Hbo/Village Roadshow/Kobal/Shutterstock

A Samantha-Shaped Hole in the Show

After claims that the addition of Che, Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), Nya and Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) were added to replace Cattrall’s position in the group, the cast slammed those allegations.


“We’re not replacing Samantha,” Davis said during the Thursday special. “It doesn’t make sense to replace Samantha. It seems very true to me that friends sometimes grow apart.”

Credit: New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock

No New Samantha

“It was very important to me that LTW [Lisa Todd Wexley] sit down, but I didn’t want to tell the audience, ‘One, two, three, fourth, she’s the new Samantha.’ So, I had Carrie and Miranda get up and leave and she sits at the table,” King said. “And at first, everybody including the network was like, ‘Ah, ah, ah! Where, what happened? Where’s Carrie and Miranda?’ And I was like, ‘Gotta pump the brakes.’”

Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

Friendships Break Apart

King said: “I knew Kim had moved on from playing Samantha. I realized, oh, we can have them mirror a split that people already know, but make it really Carrie and Samantha and heartfelt, the way you lose friends.”

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

Finding the Light

The finale, which aired on Thursday, took Carrie back to Paris — where she and Big rekindled their romance at the end of the OG series — to lay her late husband to rest.

“Paris is about a dream, it’s about a return,” the TV writer noted in the doc. “The name of the episode is ‘Seeing the Light.’ It’s about light, but really, it’s about returning to the most magical place in her aside from New York.”

Noth was initially spotted filming alongside SJP in the French city, however, earlier this year it was confirmed that his scenes had been cut amid his sexual misconduct scandal. Instead of a scene with her former husband, Carrie sought closure after Big’s death by finding the perfect place to spread his ashes.

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

The Hat of It All

While filming in Paris, the Ohio native chose to don a flamboyant headpiece during one of her finale scenes, however, King disagreed with the wardrobe choice. (SJP, for her part, noted her disappointment that she did not give her fellow producer the image he wanted for the episode.)


“I was like, ‘This is a bad situation,’ because now Sarah Jessica loves the hat,” the showrunner recalled. “As she showed, it was a phenomenal look for one scene but not for many. So now I have to become the studio head and I have to become the monster, the guy who slams the door on the soufflé. … The idea that I had to take that hat off her was really uncomfortable. It was bad.”