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Life looks quite different for Kim Cattrall since her days as Samantha Jones.
The actress, 69, says that since wrapping Sex and the City more than two decades ago, “every day is a little bit different.”
“I have a home on Vancouver Island, which is my hideaway and basically my paradise because I’m right in the middle of nature,” she tells PEOPLE while discussing her partnership with Natural Cycles and her menopause journey.
“It’s long walks. It’s reading books I’ve never had the time to read — or reread. I love women’s fiction. It’s more solitary, just me and my partner [Russell Thomas].”
Natural Cycles
Despite the change, Cattrall still feels connected to the places that shaped her. “I also spend time in London, which is a great deal of where I’ve been the last 15, 20 years,” she says. “And then there’s New York City, which will always be in my heart.”
Her approach to her career has evolved, too. “I think it defines me less,” she explains. “Kim has taken over, and not the characters she’s played, in a very definite way. The last 10 years have been more about exploring me, not connected to my work, but my own choices.”
Reflecting on her Sex and the City years — the hit series ran from 1998 to 2004 and later inspired the reboot And Just Like That, which she did not join — Cattrall recalls, “I remember in particular, doing that series, people wanted to speak to the character as opposed to me because she was fascinating, wonderful, smart and intelligent and sexy and irreverent and all of those wonderful things that we could be. But she wasn’t me.”
HBO/Newsmakers
Now, her focus is on finding roles that feel fresh and engaging. “It’s all about the writing. I don’t want to be on a set and realize that the character I’m playing is a character that I’ve already played many, many times before,” she tells PEOPLE. “I can take elements of those characters that I’ve played before and make them part of me — part of my imagination — as I play this new character.”
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Cattrall’s appetite for discovery extends beyond acting. “I love to eat. If it’s edible, I want to try it, taste it,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve been on diets for most of my freaking life. I keep in shape and all that because I want to be healthy, not because I want to be 10 pounds less for the camera.”
As for what’s next, Cattrall is saying yes to whatever excites her. “I’m an ambassador for an amazing garden outside of London — Kew Gardens — and I’ve got two dream projects in development right now, and they’re really good,” she teases. “Two very different characters, but just a blast to play. I’m saying yes to what challenges me.”
