Rosie O’Donnell has reflected on her intimate scenes with Cynthia Nixon on And Just Like That.
O’Donnell was introduced during the third and final season of the Sex and the City spinoff series as a love interest for Nixon’s character, Miranda. The former daytime talk show host’s character arc was short-lived but included a post-coital scene with her real-life friend Nixon.
Both Nixon and O’Donnell appeared on a recent episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast; the former to preface the latter’s full interview. Poehler asked Nixon what questions she had for O’Donnell — one of which was what it was like to film their very personal And Just Like That scene.
O’Donnell said it was “horrifying to me because I was so nervous.”
She continued: “First of all, I love her. I love her and have so much respect for her. And she called me and she's like, ‘Ro, you know, Michael Patrick [King] wrote you a scene and it's it's with me. Will you do it?’ I said, ‘Of course I'll do it with you.’
“And then I read it and I'm like in bed with just the sheets and then I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’”
O’Donnell said she had only done one other sex scene in her career to that point, with the late Julian McMahon on Nip/Tuck, whom she described as “such a gentleman.”
“I was nervous with Cynthia and then Michael said, ‘You know, um, you guys can be a little bit more.’ And I'm thinking, I can’t really,” O’Donnell laughed.
Poehler interjected: “Also it’s weird to kiss your friends.”
O’Donnell agreed: “Yes. Exactly. The kissing wasn't hard, but the laying in bed and the wanting us to act like we had just done it. I was like, ugh.
“But you know, I’m a little immature when it comes to that,” O’Donnell added.
Speaking about Nixon beyond her on-screen persona, O’Donnell raved: “She is the real deal. Period. End of subject. She’s one of the best actresses that we have. She stands up for injustice wherever she sees it. She puts her money where her mouth is. She loves her children and her wife and I admire her greatly.”
Nixon shared similar feelings about O’Donnell earlier in the episode, noting that they’ve been friends since the early days of Sex and the City.
When asked by Poehler to answer her own question about filming the And Just Like That scene with O’Donnell, Nixon admitted it was “a little strange.”
“But it was so lovely because the part that she played opposite me... was this nun who was having her first sexual experience with anybody,” Nixon said.
“She’s so funny, Rosie, but she didn’t play it for laughs. She played it with such tenderness and hope and excitement, and it just, of course, it made it even more funny.”
