And Just Like That star Cynthia Nixon has shared her verdict on her character Miranda’s new love interest in the third season of the Sex and the City sequel series.
The 59-year-old actor played the pragmatic corporate lawyer in Sex and the City from 1990 to 2004, reviving the role for the series’ two feature films as well as And Just Like That from 2021.
Miranda’s evolving love life has remained an integral plot line throughout all three seasons of And Just Like That. In season one, she experiences a sexual awakening with non-binary comedian Che Díaz, and in season two navigates the queer dating pool following their break up.
In the most recent season, Miranda is still a single queer woman living in New York. However, she draws closer to a BBC producer called Joy (Dolly Wells) after accidentally saying a swear word while attempting to say “country” during a live broadcast.
Speaking to Variety, Nixon said Joy “de-catastrophises where Miranda catastrophises” much like the lawyer’s ex-husband Steve Brady, who she asks for a divorce in season one of the show.
“It’s not like Joy is the Buddha,” she said. “She is a person with her own foibles and insecurities, and we get to see that she’s not a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination. But she is wonderful in a very different way than Steve. Steve was a wonderful antidote to Miranda, and Joy is a wonderful antidote in a very different way.”
Nixon acknowledged that, between Miranda coming out and having her heartbroken by Che Díaz, her plot lines in season one and two of And Just Like That had been intense.
“It was fun to take a breather,” she said of season three. “Our show, whether it’s the old show or the current show, is most quintessentially itself when people are having terrible dating experiences.”
Season three received a three-star review from The Independent’s Nick Hilton, who called the writing “clunky” and the acting “shoddy”. Still, he said the series was just now beginning to find its footing.
“The show hasn’t qualitatively improved; it’s just removed some of the less coherent elements and winnowed its audience down to the hardcore fans, for whom the show probably worked anyway,” he wrote.
“What’s left is formulaic and arranged in digestible layers for minimum offence – like a glass of parfait – but if you want consistency, then And Just Like That delivers.”
