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After playing Carrie Bradshaw across nearly three decades, Sarah Jessica Parker isn’t saying “goodbye” to her beloved character — she’s saying “farewell.”
“There’s a distinction, right?” Parker told Evan Ross Katz at a Q&A hosted by Threads in the Hamptons on Monday, Aug. 11, addressing how it feels for the Sex and the City revival series, And Just Like That…, to come to a close after three seasons.
“It’s incredibly hard to be definitive,” she continued, seemingly addressing the question of whether this is the end of Carrie forever.
Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max
Parker went on to explain how she and showrunner Michael Patrick King decided to end And Just Like That…, as they announced earlier this month.
“Why would you stop doing something … that is successful in this moment?” she asked.
“It’s because of the profound affection for the job and for the show, which is where Michael and I were all those years ago when we stopped shooting the Sex and the City television series,” Parker continued. “It’s the respect and the affection that we feel for the experience in totality that leads you to a decision like this.”
Parker called playing Carrie “such an extraordinary job, and you have to honor it.”
“Sometimes it seems an anathema to say, ‘We’re not going to do more,'” she said. “But if you love something, you know where to leave it sometimes.”
Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max
Parker also hinted that she’s not closing the door on ever playing Carrie again in the future.
The Emmy-winning actress recalled how she “wouldn’t have said back then that we would do a couple of movies” or that she would be open to a revival series when King called her to discuss one.
“He would feel the same because we talked about it previously, and it just didn’t feel right,” she noted. “But on that call … it was so apparent to both of us that it felt right.”
Leaving her fans on the ultimate ellipses, Parker added, “So who knows?”
King announced on Aug. 1 that And Just Like That… would end after its season 3 finale, which aired on Aug. 14.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the showrunner said, “And just like that… the ongoing storytelling of the Sex and the City universe is coming to an end.”
King explained that while writing the season 3 finale, “it became clear to me that this might be a wonderful place to stop.”
“SJP and I held off announcing the news until now because we didn’t want the world ‘final’ to overshadow the fun of watching the season,” he continued. “It is with great gratitude that we thank all the viewers who have let these characters into their homes and their hearts over these many years.”
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Parker then shared an emotional tribute to Carrie while reacting to the cancellation news.
Her heartfelt post encapsulated the breadth of Carrie’s journey, including all of its ups and downs, throughout both shows and both films.
The actress included a callout to Sex and the City costars Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and Kim Cattrall, who didn’t return as a main cast member for And Just Like That…, as well as newcomers Sarita Choudhury and Nicole Ari Parker.
“Carrie Bradshaw has dominated my professional heartbeat for 27 years. I think I have loved her most of all,” she wrote. “I know others have loved her just as I have.”
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And Just Like That… is streaming in full on HBO Max. Additionally, Sex and the City and its two film installments can also be viewed on the streamer.
