The Advocate Interview: Kim Cattrall
Some people think your gay card has to be revoked if you're not a fan of "Sex and the City" and of the character of Samantha Jones in particular. Well, I get to keep mine because I love the show and Samantha and Miranda, Charlotte and Carrie as well. In fact, last New Year's Eve when me and my pals couldn't get right into The Abbey and Here lounge I joked to the doorman, "I'm Samantha Jones" in the same way that
Kim Cattrall, who plays the powerful PR woman on the show, did in so many episodes enabling her to bypass so many long lines.
Well, it didn't work for me but then I'm not Samantha or Kim. The Advocate features Kim on its cover and has sent me a few excerpts to share with you...Enjoy!
On her "Sex" character: “People book me on jobs and expect Samantha to show up,” which can be exasperating. Why me? Cattrall must think. No one expects
Kristin Davis to arrive at an event as a relentlessly sunny type-A husband hunter. For some reason, Samantha’s personality stubbornly adheres to its vessel, possibly because it represents an ideal, the kind of person we like to imagine there’d be more of, if the world were a different place. It’s such a powerful persona that Cattrall refers to Samantha in the third person without even seeming to notice she’s doing so. “She has a tremendous fan base,” she says of her character, as if talking up a colleague.
On marriage and children: For all her desire to put some distance between herself and Samantha, there are undeniable parallels. “I’m a woman of a certain age who doesn’t have kids and never really settled down,” she says. When she talks about children, she’s refreshingly unapologetic about brooking no quarter for them. “I enjoy kids but not for long periods. I think they’re adorable and funny and sweet, and then I have a headache.” And she once told a journalist she thinks marriage is antithetical to sexual passion. “My perception is, the times I’ve been in long-term relationships and not taken care, there’s been a price to pay, and we start looking somewhere else because the person next to you in bed is pissed off.”
On the tabloids: When the show ended, rumors swirled about an ongoing catfight between Cattrall and the other three women, particularly
Sarah Jessica Parker. People wanted to know why she didn’t seem friendlier with them. “Do you get along with your colleagues all the time?” she asks me. “If you’re spending 18 hours a day [at work], the last thing you want to do is go and have a drink with the people who you just -- you just need to get away.”
On the delay of the film: Cattrall was reported to have held up production of the film after the three other actresses signed on, and she reiterates a number of reasons for doing so: Her father was diagnosed with dementia; she couldn’t see the script before signing; when she did see the script, she didn’t like it. “I didn’t think it was that great,” she says. “I’m glad we waited four years for a much better story line for all four characters.” And of course, the money. Cattrall doesn’t dispute that she held out for more, but she says it wasn’t out of jealousy over Parker’s higher salary, as was widely reported. “I never expected to be paid what Sarah was being paid,” she says. “Sarah’s a producer. But I felt that the offer was not worthy of what the three of us had contributed, and I spoke up about it. You know, my dad was a big union guy. He felt that the workers should get a part of it.”
She insists that reports she was only doing the movie for the money took her words out of context. Still, she’s candid about the fact that this is her nest egg, and she’s not getting any younger. “I’m a woman in my 50s. I’m not living with some multimillionaire. I’m it. Negotiation is about getting more money, and I think, Would they have a problem with this if I were a man? You look at
James Gandolfini. He stood up and said, ‘Hey, I’m worth it.’ ” Her hard line appears to have worked. In March the Post reported that not only had Cattrall gotten a raise, but so had
Kristin Davis and
Cynthia Nixon, thanks to her bargaining efforts. “Enough said” is all she’ll say in response to that. “It’s like, ‘Oh, don’t make any waves. Just be a good girl and take it.’ And you know, I’m happy with my deal, ultimately. I feel like I stuck my neck out. I fought. I don’t ever want to be on a set where I feel undervalued.” To read more from the article, go to Advocate.com
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Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress. ~Liz Smith
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