Not so fast, honey. After a weekend chock-full of surprising announcements, it felt like anything might be possible—even Kim Cattrall returning to And Just Like That for season three. But even as rumors swirled that PR maven Samantha Jones was gearing up for a more pronounced role on the upcoming season of the Sex and the City revival series, Cattrall put the kibosh on them, posting on X that she is not returning to the series. For real this time.
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Cattrall’s fraught history with the Sex and the City franchise has been well-documented. After starring on the groundbreaking HBO series along side Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, and Sarah Jessica Parker for six seasons and two feature films, Cattrall infamously refused to appear in a third film amid rumors of growing tension between her and the rest of the cast, specifically Parker. (Cattrall notoriously said that she would not make a third SATC because she “didn’t want to be in a situation for even an hour” where she’s not enjoying herself.) Years later, when the three other women joined the revival series on Max, Cattrall stayed true to her word and opted out once again, choosing instead to star in projects like Hulu’s How I Met Your Father and the Netflix series Glamorous.
But just when you thought Cattrall was out for good, she jumped back into the fray. Cattrall famously made a 72-second cameo appearance as Samantha Jones on the season two finale of And Just Like That, calling Carrie from London to tell her she couldn’t make Carrie’s final dinner party in her old apartment. Samantha’s phone call with Carrie—which was reportedly filmed completely separately from Parker, with Cattrall styled by famed SATC costume designer Patricia Field—was such a treat that it earned a spot on Vanity Fair’s Best Performances of 2023 list and reportedly made Cattrall $1 million richer.
It’s no surprise, then, that fans of And Just Like That have been clamoring for more Samantha Jones in season three. And according to Elle, an insider told Life & Style that a deal for Cattrall to return once more—one that would allow the actor to film all her scenes in London, without necessarily having to interact with the other ladies—was actually in motion. “They’ll be bending over backwards to pay her an absolute fortune,” said the source. “And it’s all on her terms because she’s so central to the franchise.’”
Alas. Apparently, that was too good to be true. Cattrall responded to a X user who posted the Elle article speculating about her return to the SATC-verse with a succinct message. “Aw that’s so kind but I’m not,” wrote Cattrall, ending her post with the red-lips emoji. Devastating, sure, but not surprising.
Cattrall is not the only AJLT player that will be absent from the show’s upcoming episodes. Sara Ramirez, who played Miranda’s love interest and Hudson Yards resident Che Diaz, will not be returning for season three, nor will Karen Pittman’s under-utilized Dr. Nya Wallace. Instead, And Just Like That will feature new characters: Rosie O’Donnell has joined the cast in the still under-wraps role of “Mary,” and SNL alum Cheri Oteri has also been spotted filming the show in New York.
Of course, no one can replace Samantha Jones, and we won’t know for certain that she isn’t on the series until And Just Like That returns to Max in 2025. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for Samantha to relocate from London in the immediate future.
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