In 2019, when Kim Cattrall memorably confessed to The Guardian, 'I don’t want to be in a situation for even an hour where I’m not enjoying myself', she set into motion a cacophony of whisperings about which 'situations' exactly she was referring to. Of course, there had been murmurings of disagreements between her and her co-star Sarah Jessica Parker and mumblings of creative differences, but what incidences were so bad for the actor that she no longer wanted to be a part of them? Ultimately it was deciphered – and promptly adopted as gospel by evangelists of Sex And The City – that the situation Cattrall was referencing was her role in the series that cemented her as a household name.
It also helped to clarify and calcify Cattrall's stance when later in the same interview she admitted that her role as the titular Samantha Jones was 'a blessing in so many ways but after the second movie I’d had enough.' She added: 'I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just replace me with another actress instead of wasting time bullying. No means no.'
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Despite Cattrall's blatant attempts at wriggling free from our collectively firm grip, I – ahem – couldn't help but wonder why exactly it is so hard for us to let go of Samantha Jones? In the past 12 months alone, following the release of two seasons of the spin-off SATC TV show And Just Like That... and ahead of the airing of the third season, which arrives on our screens later this year, worldwide searches for 'Samantha Jones' have spiked by 140%, according to Google Trends; while on TikTok, the #SamanthaJones has been used on more than 30,000 videos. Samantha, the sex-positive PR supremo, is a character whose resonance is as strong today as it was upon her creation almost three decades ago. But why, when Cattrall has made her intentions for the character clear, are we not allowing her to leave?
In season one of And Just Like That..., we learn that Carrie and Samantha had fallen out; in season two, Samantha returned for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it 73-second snippet. It was rumoured that Cattrall refused to interact with the rest of the cast while filming and filmed her scenes separately and on her own. To fans of the show and those for whom this is a total anathema, this is not what Samantha would've wanted. Of course, her cameo was perfectly pleasant, but therein lies the problem. Samantha wasn't a pleasant character; she was funny, flirty and entirely fabulous. Rather than a limp cameo, fans of the show would rather have seen their patron saint in all of her glory.
There are four core tenets that provided the framework for the success that Sex And The City achieved upon its release in the 2000s: Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. They are the quartet that trotted their Manolos into the hearts of people across the world with their warm witticisms and pithy put-downs. But times have changed (admittedly at what feels like breakneck speed), which means that so too have the characters we once fell in love with. It's for that very reason that, rather than opining over the chasm left in the wake of Samantha's departure or piecing together a makeshift comeback, we owe it to the original iteration of our favourite show to allow Samantha the opportunity to leave once and for all.
Let me be clear: I have worshipped at the altar of Sex And The City since I first watched it after my first heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, seemingly world-altering teenage break-up. It has seen me through several splits since (albeit both of those have had slightly more perspective applied to them) and all of the topsy-turvy life occurrences that have been sandwiched between my life then and as it is in its current form. It's something I return to when I want comfort; watching these four characters feels like slipping my feet into a pair of warm slippers after a cold, frostbitten day. But I can accept Samantha as a relic of her time. I can watch re-runs of the show, ensconced in a blanket, hands cradling a cup of tea, and lose myself in the stories of each character without yearning for Samantha's return. In fact, I'd rather lose myself in the what-was of Samantha's story than hypothesise over what-might-have-been.
Cattrall has made her position on reprising her role clear: she won't be back and it's time to relinquish the idea of her return. Rather than 73-second clips of Samantha having fictional phone calls with her once permanently-attached-at-her-hip best friend Carrie, let's allow her to leave with her head held high and her grace in tact.
'Thank you for everything you f*cking fabulous, fabulous flat,' Samantha says in her short-but-sweet scene in the season two finale of AJLT. When Carrie teases Samantha of developing a British accent, Samantha jokes that her real name was Annabelle Bronstein from India, a character she impersonated in season six of Sex and the City. 'Ta and cheerio!' Samantha concluded. 'And have a great night.'
There it is: the pip, pip, cheerio we all need to bid to the Samantha we once knew. Rather than playing into the gossip that swirls both online and offline, it's time to accept that Samantha's legacy will transcend, regardless of whether the character reappears in the series now or tomorrow. Yes, the core cast may be one woman down, but the times have changed, and so too has our favourite fictional foursome.
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Naomi May
Acting News Editor
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
