Kim Cattrall Interview

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Cattrall - In character as Samantha in The Movie

When playing Samantha were you aware you were becoming a sexual icon for a lot of women?
Kim Cattrall: Wow! (laughs). My goodness, no sort of foreplay here! When playing a character like that every day there's a new script and most of them terrified me. I'd just turned 40 when I started the series and I didn't know if I could play such a sexual, crazed woman because I believe that all those years ago - which is not that many years ago, really - people really did believe that women in their forties weren't very sexy and that women in their twenties and thirties were really beautiful because in their close up they were perfect... desirable. What I'm now discovering - and I'm now in another decade - is that the older I get the more I have my self knowledge which makes me feel more sexy.

Is Samantha dating younger men in the movie? How do you feel about that?
KC: Most of the men I have gotten to know - and I'm now dating a younger man - they have been raised by some really amazing women who were not at home all the time so they couldn't really be Mommy's boy. They had to get on with it and realise that Mom wasn't going to be there all the time and they like a strong, independent woman. Women now are not giving up girl time, like guys don't give up going to play sports or poker or whatever they do. I think that's really fabulous.

You had some memorable storylines in the show. Which one is your favourite?
KC: Well, the trannies (transvestites) was so great, I just loved that. I also very much liked the firemen episode...

How will the story have moved on from the series? How will it be cinematic?
KC: Well, I think the look of it first of all is really quite gorgeous. I think it does much more location wise and shot wise than we could, time wise on the series. I also think that the four years that we weren't making the show means that Michael [Patrick King, director] had a tremendous amount of time to contemplate it. And with that time came a lot of subtlety.

Did you always believe that the film would happen?
KC: When Chris Albrecht called me last year when I was just about to go to Dublin to do 'My Boy Jack' for ITV, and he said: 'this is a voice from your past, I was in a movie theatre and I was watching 'The Devil Wears Prada' and it was absolutely packed and I looked around and said 'we created this audience'. And I think we really need to do the film.' 

And I was floored. All of us had gone in our different directions, had different life paths and leaving the show was really, really hard. Personally it was a very difficult time in my personal life. So I was trying to put a lot of things together. And I'm glad that we didn't do the movie right away because I don't think we would have had any kind of perspective about what was happening to us and what was about to happen. I think it was the perfect time to get back together and do this.

So could there be more films after this?
KC: You know I'm so superstitious. I really want the film to be a big success because I think that we made it for the right reasons -I think the script is really good and the performances and the direction is really great - but ultimately you never know, you just never know. I mean, people might see it and think it's beyond their expectations, or they might see it and say 'oh I preferred the series'. You just don't know. But I'm hoping that it does well. I hope it does lead to more. I don't know, though.

When we left Samantha she was just recovering from breast cancer and in a serious relationship. What's she dealing with in the movie?
KC: Well, I think she is older and that in itself is a huge struggle in our world still. And that's why I am so happy to be of a certain age playing a woman of a certain age. And we kind of changed the way people thought about 40 so maybe 50 and maybe 60 hopefully.

As Samantha, you are so confident in the show. Are you as confident off screen?
KC: Oh God, no!

And has playing Samantha changed that a little bit?
KC: Well, I think in some ways Samantha has certainly given me a platform to talk to women about specific things - sexuality being top of the list. But no, I have moments of incredible insecurity. I'm deeply flawed and human and that's what I think makes these characters interesting because they are too. I don't want to sit here and listen to people who have a perfect life, I certainly don't. I'm dealing with a lot of things on a daily basis like most people are, all people are... She makes me feel more confident and gives me again that platform, especially about aging.

'Sex and the City' is about friendship. Do you have some good friends in your life and maybe a favourite thing that they have done for you?
KC: Oh there are so many. My best friend from theatre school moved back to New York in the last year. And it was a really tough year for me. I was going through a divorce, which was really tough. I've been divorced before which was a private matter but this was a very public (one) and my Dad was diagnosed with dementia, which was a tough time. And she was there for me every day on the set and it was really, really tough and I'm grateful that I had her support. And also after that I moved to Canada for a while and had time with my family. Sometimes things like that make you aware of how precious time is and so I'm grateful, very grateful for that.

New York is a character in the series and in the film. What is it about New York?
KC: I've been spending a lot of time in London, which I really love, and they have a similarity, I love both of those cities, they are my favourite. And I think it's because you can be so spontaneous in both of them. There are people who do a lot of different things for a living and not just one or two. It's not a company town and doesn't feel like a company town. I think it's the most beautiful city in America, the architecture is fantastic.

Isn't your boyfriend based in Canada?
KC: Yes, he is.

Is that difficult?
KC: Well, he spends a large amount of time with me here and I've been spending a lot of time in Canada with my family so it works really well.

You wear some amazing clothes. How important is Pat Field to 'Sex and the City'?
KC: Pat is amazing, totally brilliant. My taste is, I'm like a theatre rat, I'm comfortable in jeans and sweater, I like that. But I also like dressing up, especially with this character because she is so over the top and it allows you so much licence to have fun.

We look at things together Pat and I, and I'll go 'nah.' and she goes 'yeah, I know' - we're so on the same page. And that took a while, the collaboration. She was more wanting me to wear, not so much Carrie style, but big, over-the-top sexy and I felt I wanted to go a little slower than that. Because Samantha is a business woman and I wanted the viewers to say 'well, yes, she could wear that.' And underneath there might be a little something but over the top it would be that she could walk down the street and not look like a hooker. And that was easily incorporated early on with the big jewellery. Now it's the belts, everything is belted! But clothes are such a great part of the show, because it's fun.

You have to take your clothes off a lot, not only in front of a younger man but also in front of the whole world. Is that daunting?
KC: It's all about lighting! (laughs)

'Sex and the City' opens in Irish cinemas on Wednesday 28 May. To see the trailer, click here.