A quarter of a century since Sex and the City first strutted onto screens in Manolos, Sarah Jessica Parker is back — older, sharper, and still closely tied to the character that became a cultural touchstone. With season three of And Just Like That now streaming, the series continues to explore the world Carrie Bradshaw helped define — only now through a more reflective, midlife lens. There's still brunch and designer shoes, but also grief, reinvention, and the quieter dilemmas of ageing.
It’s taken time to find its footing. The first two seasons were uneven — often clumsy in their attempts to update the show’s worldview and reintroduce its characters in a more socially conscious era. But this latest chapter lands more comfortably. It doesn’t try to recreate the energy of Sex and the City, nor should it. The characters have changed, the city has changed, and the show seems more willing to sit in that reality now.
Season two ended with Carrie and Aidan going their separate ways — again — after Aidan (John Corbett) asked for a five-year pause to raise his youngest son. Now, as the new season begins, they’re giving long-distance another go, exchanging postcards and attempting phone sex. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is newly single and briefly romancing a nun, played by Rosie O’Donnell. Seema (Sarita Choudhury) remains independent, while Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and LTW (Nicole Ari Parker) juggle work and parenting. Carrie, meanwhile, is writing a novel — fiction this time.
Parker, who also serves as executive producer, is clear-eyed about where she and the show stand today. Speaking to The Standard from the show’s press junket in Paris via Zoom, she reflects on how her approach to work has changed over the decades.
“Gosh. I mean, I hope I have evolved a lot,” she says, smiling. “I don't think I'm the person to answer that in some ways, except to say, personally, my approach to my professional life is I care as much as I ever did, which was always sort of dominant in the approach to the day. I've always worked really hard, perhaps cared too much. I was hoping to be frank that at this point in my career, I'd be a little bit more cavalier, but I'm not. I mean, hopefully I'm better than I was.”
Her love for acting hasn’t dulled — if anything, it’s deepened. But she admits her priorities have shifted since welcoming her children, son James and twin daughters Tabitha Hodge and Marion Loretta Elwell, with husband Matthew Broderick . “I think the difference now is I'm just more thoughtful about the ways in which I spend my time, because I have children, and time away from them feels a real sacrifice. So I think the thing that's changed is, what do I want to do, and how will it affect my family, and how far away will I be, and for how long?
“And I didn't used to ask those questions. I was just like, work, work, work, work. So it's nice to have the opportunity to be a little bit more thoughtful about decisions now.”
One of And Just Like That’s more quietly effective themes this season is the shifting nature of confidence — how it rises, dips, and reshapes itself over time. In the opening episode, Seema glances over at a group of fresh-faced graduates and remarks, “Look at them — so cool, so confident. Definitely not dating in their 50s,” while wrestling with her own relationship doubts. To which Carrie, in an incredibly oversized floppy gingham bonnet, nods in agreement.
The moment is played lightly, but it lands. Confidence, the show suggests, doesn’t settle with age — it still wobbles, still needs managing. But Parker has no desire to rewrite the past, on screen or off. She’s not interested in revisiting her or Carrie’s younger self and giving either a pep talk.
“I don’t ever want to have a chat with myself to buck me up or get in front of a problem or give advice,” she says firmly. “Nor do I want Carrie to tell younger Carrie how to do it better. Be wiser. Don’t make that mistake, don't, you know, don't be foolish in that way.”
She credits the “hard things” — the stumbles, the cringe, the messy bits — as the stuff that shapes us. “I think all the experiences add up and we're better. We have better coping mechanisms for all the things that we're always trying to get in front of and not let happen to somebody. And I have to be reminded of that as a parent, because I'm always wanting to get in front of a potential problem.
“But that's not really particularly helpful to a child if you want them to become an independent adult who can function in the world, and yes, have those same coping coping mechanisms. So I don't really want to talk to my younger self, or to younger Carrie, because I want, I'm grateful for the things that were hard or I did poorly.”
This season of And Just Like That features a few notable British additions, including Dolly Wells as Miranda’s new love interest, Joy, and Jonathan Cake, playing Carrie’s somewhat grouchy neighbour. There are also new professional opportunities for Carrie — including one where she’s invited to speak with someone she greatly admires.
When asked who she’d choose to speak with in real life, she pauses. “I love the idea of it being British,” she says. “I’m tempted to talk about writers, based on what I’m reading, but that’s not wise…” She hesitates, then smiles. Off-screen, Parker has been immersed in British culture herself, reading two books a day to prepare for her role as judge for this year’s Booker Prize.
“I’d probably say someone I wouldn’t pretend to be equipped to have a conversation with — but I would like to sit in the room during the Blitz, in the War Room, and just watch Winston Churchill lead.”
She adds: “It was an extraordinary time, and I’ve tried to read a decent amount about him and the choices he made. And yes, I know there’s controversy around some of them. But it was such a fascinating moment in history.” What surprised her most? “When I visited the museum in London, I was blown away by how many young women were taking care of the most sensitive parts of the war effort. I had no idea. It was extraordinary.”
And Just Like That airs on weekly on Fridays at 9pm on Sky Comedy and NOW. The previous two seasons are available to stream on NOW.
