Seemingly more about shoes than a sit-down with the press, Sarah Jessica Parker and her assorted SATC2 gal pals stopped by swanky Bergdorf Goodman Department Store in Manhattan to field questions concerning their very new and very different Middle East adventure for the much-anticipated sequel. Though Parker did confess to occasionally putting her foot in her mouth instead of the elegant shoes on Bergdorf’s shelves, the conversation did turn decidedly relaxed and breezy. Especially when delving into hot topics like men, menopause, more men, and how women can be their best friends and worst enemies.
SARAH JESSICA PARKER: [Peeking from around a corner] Wait, we’re not all here yet. We’re incomplete! Nice to see you! When you’re in a shoe department, everything just seems more amusing, I guess.
Q: OK, what was [the] major issue for each of you, in SATC2?
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SJP: Ha! I’m not sure that was specified in the movie. Um, well, as I’ve been saying lately, there was a wedding, and now there has to be a marriage. And the two are very different, and I think where Carrie finds herself at the top of the movie is starting as she typically does: to ask question about the environment in which she currently lives. And those questions—and the big theme of the movie for all of us in our own way—is tradition. And why do we run toward it, and why do we push it away? And why, when we so willingly want to commit, like to the institution of marriage, do we find ourselves squirming, and asking questions? And how do we redefine traditions for ourselves? And how do our friends around us redefine traditions, and do they want to? And what better place to ask these questions than in the Middle East!
CYNTHIA NIXON: I think for Miranda, the real issue that she’s been dealing with is what to do when you have a really terrific job that you’re well paid for, that you’ve worked for decades to get there, and all of a sudden you’re just miserable. I can totally relate to that! No, I’m kidding. I think that the part of it that I can relate to is as you get older and as you get more of a sense of yourself, which I think is what’s happening to Miranda in the movie, learning to value yourself and learning to say, “You know what, if someone is treating me badly, even though it’s in my vested interest to keep my mouth shut, I actually have to speak out for myself.” And I have to protect myself. I may define myself as a lawyer, but if I’m a miserable lawyer it’s better not to be a lawyer at all.
KIM CATTRALL: Menopause, menopause, menopause! And I didn’t need to do any research. I don’t need to say any more!
KRISTIN DAVIS: Ha! That’s what is wonderful about going away, the fact that the girls get to go away and get to a deeper level together. Sometimes when you get out of your own normal day-to-day existence, you get to appreciate it and look at it and analyze it and share about it, and, you know, have this freedom that we have in the Middle East. Which is ironic, as Sarah Jessica pointed out. And sure I relate to that, but not with the children part, obviously.
Q: How is this a movie especially about older women thinking in new ways?
SJP: Well, I think women of a certain generation aren’t even conscious of the fact that we are asking ourselves. You know, we are in the process of redefining all the time. I mean, the great gift that our mothers gave us is the opportunity to rethink the roles that we take on in very conventional institutions, whether it’s a partnership that’s sort of defined by society, or a work environment, or whether it’s the way we see us in our work and the fact that there are so many women in our workplace, which is very different than most conventional settings. So we do that all the time, I think. And women who are in the home with children, you know, they’re rethinking it all the time, so it’s kind of a privilege to talk about this topic, because it feels so relevant to me—and without being preachy.
Q: For a lot of women, you embody exactly what a fun and fearless woman is, and that age doesn’t define how you deal with career choices, fashion or motherhood. And with sex, of course, you’ve opened up our eyes with a lot of positions there! Anyway, what do you find is most empowering, about being a fun and fearless woman?
SJP: Do you mean me, or the character?