Sarah Jessica Parker’s portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City was a pivotal moment in television and catapulted the actress to fame. It also led to a slew of movie roles, including Failure To Launch and Did You Hear About The Morgans. But Parker has revealed that despite being at the top of her game, she often “didn’t feel as powerful” as “inappropriate” male co-stars, claiming that one particular encounter with a male A-list celebrity nearly drove her to walk off a set.
Speaking on NPR’s Fresh Air, Parker revealed that while she had “countless experiences of men behaving poorly, inappropriately” she hadn’t realised what they were until after the #MeToo movement became more widespread.
She said, “I don't know why I either wasn't courageous or more destroyed by some of the things that I was privy to, that I was on the receiving end of.”
Parker, who said that she didn’t “recall saying no” out of fear that it “jeopardised my places, my work”, explained, “I think no matter how evolved or how modern I thought I was... I didn’t feel entirely in a position — no matter what my role was on set. I didn’t feel as powerful as the man who was behaving inappropriately, which just strikes me as just stunning to say out loud, because there were plenty of occasions where it was happening and I was in a different position and I was as powerful.”
On one occasion, she said that the behaviour of a “very big, big movie star” forced her to take action after he became inappropriate with her. She said, “I did go to my agent — because I felt I was no longer able to convey how uncomfortable this was making me, how inappropriate it was and... within hours everything had changed.”
“[My agent] said to [the actor], 'If this continues, I have sent her a ticket, a one-way ticket out of this city — where I was shooting — and she will not be returning'” Parker continued.
The Divorce star did not reveal who the actor was, however she explained that he was “a formed person” and that she didn’t believe that her actions against him would change his personality.
She did say that after reporting him, she “didn’t have to dread a potential conversation” or “listen to jokes about me or my figure or what people thought they could talk me into doing”.
Parker also confirmed that she had experienced instances in which men had behaved inappropriately with her or tried to take advantage of her. Rather than saying no outright, she explained that she “found a host of other words that said no in other ways” and came up with other ways to get out of difficult situations.
She said, “It really wasn’t until about six or eight months ago that I started recognising countless experiences of men behaving poorly, inappropriately, and all the ways that I had made it possible to keep coming to work or to remain on set, or to simply, as I described it, just push it down, push it away, find a little space for it and move on.”
Parker recounted, “I would try to find ways with language [to say no]... I remember in a hotel once I asked a male friend of mine if he would stay in a hotel room with me and just answer the phone and simply say I wasn’t there. I don’t recall saying no. This is very weird about this and I don’t know if I’m ashamed of that, or if I simply found a host of other words that said no in other ways.”
