Kristin Davis
Appearances
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Yes. Oh, my God. That's adorable that you thought you were going to do the pilot of Sex and the City with Kristen Scott Thomas. I mean, I wish I was Kristen Scott Thomas, you know? I don't wish you were.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Hi, I'm Kristen Davis and I want to know, are you a Charlotte? You guys, Cynthia Nixon's here with us on the podcast, Are You a Charlotte? Which I think the answer's no. I think not really. But we'll get to that at the end.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
So do you remember the read-through? No. Me neither. I remember, there's a thing that I remember about you and I guess it was at the read-through.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
That's nice. This is what I remember. You had like a notebook with your script in it because you know you're very professional. And on the front of the notebook was a little baby picture of Sam. And I was like, oh, is that your baby? You're like, yeah. And I was like, aren't you worried to, you know, not be at work? You know, not to not be home. And you're like, no.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And I was like, oh, I was just very impressed. Very impressed. You're like, it'll be fine. It's like, oh, my gosh. Amazing. But I didn't remember the bigger picture. Sarah Winter remembers the bigger picture of the read through. Oh, really? Yeah. Because apparently there was a Kennedy there. Can't remember his first name. He's going to play that part again. Which part?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Her guy, Sarah Winters' guy in the beginning who ghosts her. And then I guess something happened. He got cold feet. Who knows? Who knows? Lawford. Lawford was his name.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Yes. Yes. I know. Super fascinating. Don't remember that. I kind of remember that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Okay. I had not remembered. She remembers Darren coming in and me talking to Darren because I knew him from LA. I didn't really know the rest of you. You know, I had just seen all of you.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Thank you, Cynthia, for being here. Thank you for having me. It's beyond exciting. It is, it is. So, okay, what we want to do, I mean, there's a lot, right? There's like kind of endless amounts of things to talk about, but... What I want to do with you because I have you here. And for me, once I started rewatching, which you remember, I never rewatched.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Whose name? I keep saying, I'm like, oh my God, where is Barry?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I mean, yeah, he was a big part of it all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was the Melfi. We didn't have Melfi yet.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I think we, no, not in the pilot. We had the mystery woman who gave me the contract to sign where I would have been a recurring. Right. Who, you know, doesn't have a fond place in my memory. I'm sure it's not her fault, but, and I don't know her name, but. Did you know about that? Did I tell you about that at the time?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I think you might've been the only one. Because I really tried to keep it a secret. Michael Patrick didn't even know.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Because it really... Michael talked really interestingly about his beginnings and how he didn't know how to write Charlotte. He was like, wow, that one, I don't know. Which I understand, because in the book she's not really very... Like, she's... Fleshed out? Yeah, she's not fleshed out. She doesn't really make a lot of sense. She's just a little different.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
You don't... Like, she takes drugs and goes roller skating. Like, it's weird. You know, you're like, who is that one? You know? And I remember, you know, really feeling like I've got to figure her out. And, you know, there was some stress about, like, they wanted me to have short hair. I wanted to have long hair. Pat was trying to put me in these clothes. I was like, what are those clothes?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
You know? Which was, I think... Not uncommon for us. I mean, Sarah Jessica was in sync with Pat, but the rest of us were like, what's happening? So that was a process, obviously. But also, I think Charlotte had to be developed. And that was, you know, luckily happened over time, but definitely was not true in the beginning.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And for me, inside, I had this sense of, oh, you know, someone doesn't know if I'm important here.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I didn't know who that was. Right. I didn't know if it was like HBO because we didn't really know Strauss at that point. We didn't know Carolyn. No, we didn't know anybody. Right. Right. We were just like. You knew Darren. I knew Darren, which was great. But also Darren was, you know, trying to create this thing.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like, do you remember one time he came down and he was like, you guys have to be funnier. And we were like, I do kind of remember that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And I don't remember what Kim said. She doesn't, because Samantha's not insecure about anything. Yes, but it was like our only time they ever asked us to ad-lib. Right. That was the end of that. Right, right, right, right, right, right. But it was very sweet because they didn't want to write anything that would upset us, which was nice.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Totally, totally, totally. But then I also remember a different week when he'd come down, Darren would come down, he'd be like... You know, everyone's got to be sexier. You've got to be sexier. And I would be like, me? Like, what?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like I watched at the time, but I find it like uncomfortable. But at this point, looking back, it's not so uncomfortable for me. It's more like archaeological or, you know, like what is going on, you know? So I really, once we started the podcast, I really felt like I need to have us here.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Totally. Like, just low cut. I don't know. Yeah, it was bizarre. But I just feel I remember just not knowing, you know, what our aisle was, you know, what our goal was kind of or who we were. But then when I look back on it, which having not watched it for, you know, eight million years. We're very good. We are very good. I mean, it's kind of amazing. Like, we have married pigs.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Not, not, not, they're not fully fleshed out, but like the, the energy, the gist. You know, we're at that scene with the pepper mill. Do you remember that scene?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Good memory, Cyn. Impressive. You told me you didn't remember anything. That's not true. You know, and that peppermint had to come in the right time. That was like our first real true coffee shop.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I mean, there's one in the pilot, but we're at the Chinese restaurant. Right, right, right, right, right. Very brief.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I mean, I feel like Skipper goes there with Carrie. So someone goes there with Gary and I'm like, what is he doing there?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Stanford. Remember the place they would like put us in the van and drive us over there?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And it was kind of not the cleanest. I don't want to say anything bad.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Very. I mean, ugly would be a word. Ugly would be a word. Yeah, that didn't last long. It didn't last long at all. But the other thing I think when I look back on these early episodes is to me, New York looks so different. it looks like it's the 80s. You know what I mean?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like, it's like, and the cars, and like, in this particular, in the episode 20-something guys, or Valley of the 20-something guys, you know, we go to these bars. Right. Like, downstairs, and they're just like, nothing. They're just like, a dark room in the basement. Right. It's so 80s, you know?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Super interesting to me. I don't really remember it. Like, I don't know where we are. I have no idea.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And Charlotte doesn't really get to go very often. Like the first, you guys are in chaos. Remember chaos? I don't know if it was a real place or not. I don't think probably it was. But you're there. That's when Skipper comes and you push him up against the wall. It's so good. Right. That's a pilot. I think it's excellent. Excellent. But I'm not there.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I'm with that dude up on the stairs of the Met. Right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Right. Thinking I'm on like the perfect date. And then he goes and has sex with Samantha. I know. I know. Poor Charlotte.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
So wait, let's get back to you. Let's get back to you. So we start the pilot. You did feel like it was the Holy Grail. So you had a sense that it was amazing.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
on to talk about the beginnings right because all of us had different experiences and all of us were coming from different places right you know right and that's what's kind of so interesting about it i think in a way like we were all so um different in terms of of the careers we were having and then we all came together for this and magic happened and here we are almost 30 years later he he he
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And when we actually did the pilot, did you feel like, wow, wow, wow? Or did you feel like, oh my God. I always thought it was all great.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I also remember you saying, I never had, like, girlfriends where we would, like, go around and kind of, like, be powerful like this. Yeah.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I know. I know. It's super interesting to look at the beginning episodes. Like there's a, you know, like a... It's very sex positive, which is wonderful before we ever called it that. But also like an openness, like a, you know, everyone's, not everyone, I guess Charlotte's not, but like Carrie, especially like Valley of the 20 something guys, you know, I mean, it's, it's very interesting.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
What's wrong with you? Absolutely. But I do think that that also reminds me of the different times, you know, and the fact that we were not, there was no blueprint for us, you know, and that in some ways is, I think, Like this kind of magic about us coming together and HBO allowing us to find ourselves and then also being able to do the movies and then also being able to do and just like that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I mean, like there is no blueprint. There is nothing else.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Which, you know, crazy, insane to think about. So tell us a little bit about I mean, should I intro a little like, you know, you were this incredible Broadway actress. I mean, I had seen Cynthia not knowing Cynthia in when when I saw the other one, the real thing, the real thing. which I love so much. Yes, so beautiful.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Of course, everyone likes to say all the things that embarrass me. But yes, very good example. And also such a fun, fun memory. So great. Such a great memory and such a funny... I mean, now that I look back on it, which I didn't really compute this or whatever, that's really my first storyline. Like where it's like a beginning, middle and end, right?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like Carrie's like, you know, and then Charlotte has a new boyfriend and we see him and I'm like, did I tell you he wants to buy a painting? And you guys are like, oh, you know. And then... We do that scene. No, then we do the scene. Then I call her, right? And she's like, oh, Charlotte, I got to run out of the house. Right. And I'm like, and she's like, I'll be right there. Right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And then we're in that big cab. Do you remember? It was like a 1970s cab. Right. And Allison, the director, and Maryse, who's French, the DP, who I could never say her name right. Right. They're in the front seat. Do you remember this with the handheld? They're in the front seat, like on the floor. That's how big the cab was that they could do that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And they would like pop their heads up and give us direction as we're driving around and then pop back down. And then we added you guys. And I remember it being so fun, but also being so even just like mortified to say the words out loud that I kept messing it up. Like I couldn't say the words. Because the first time I say it, it's just there, Jessica, with me, right? It's just Carrie with me.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And I... I had so not said it in rehearsal. Remember how we used to run our lines all the time, which I told Michael. Michael was like, I didn't know this. I was like, wait, we were so scared that we weren't going to talk fast enough for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, at least I was, right? So we were, remember we were in the makeup trailer just running, running, running, running, running.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Do you remember this? Did they have us do that? Did they have us watch some like His Gal Friday or something? I think you did. I don't think anyone told us to.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I think that was your creative, you know, thought process. And also I was I told you I was going to tell you this. I do think this is when you started saying to me quietly, like, not my medium. Yeah. not my medium. Cause we'd be in some complex thing where they'd say like, and then you find the lens and then you move forward and you find the lens and you would just be like, not my medium.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
So she was in two Broadway plays across the street from each other at the same time.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
It's true. But number two, I mean, first of all, I see those early episodes. You're like spot on. I mean, you're amazing. So, you know, some of it, I think, is just your own mind. But I also think also it is obviously a very different experience. Doing a show is a very different experience than even just a film.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Definitely new things happen. And also we film a lot quicker, especially back then. Remember, we would film like so many scenes in a day. And it was that was partly why it was so complicated. Right. Because we couldn't like stop. Like now, now and just like that. We do. We take some time, you know, to, you know, do the singles and whatever. But back then we were like on the go.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
She'd done Juliet and Shakespeare in the Park. You'd been in Amadeus. I mean, just, you'd been in the movie.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Do you remember they used to like wheel those huge lights down the street, you know, from one location to the other? Like it was kind of amazing to think about like guerrilla filmmaking a little bit. Right. You know, back in the day.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Unbelievable. So when did you hear about Sex and the City? When did you get the script? What did you think?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I talked about it a little bit back then. We felt like we shouldn't say that. Do you remember? That it was so long? Right. We shouldn't complain? Yes, we shouldn't complain, yeah. Because remember how people would just come up and be like, isn't it so much fun? Once it started to kind of take off, and we'd be like, yes, as we're fainting, as we're just so tired. Right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
But we couldn't really say that. We felt like we couldn't really say that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Yes. And our feet. I mean, you know, I told them the story. I had the bigger size shoes for the weekend. My tennis shoes were bigger so that I could like let my little swollen feet rest. Yeah. Because remember how we would film till the sun rose and then start at 5 a.m. on Monday.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I think that must have been somewhere close to me trying to also do the same thing with with not a child, but just my really, uh, challenge.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I mean, I used to live here, but it never, you know, it's just a challenge that I have right in wherever I am. It's a challenge. And there was no phones to be doing.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And I had never in my life even heard of long Island city. I was like, I don't understand, like, just where are we? I just don't understand.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Exactly. So I had gone, tried to go to my fitting sometime, probably like the same day or next day or whatever. Right, right, right. It was raining and I'm just wandering, you know, like a little lost wet kitten, you know, like, help me, help me, anyone. And then crying, you know, like finally, like I think calling Shelly also like, help me, I don't know.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
I don't even know if I'm in Long Island City. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like all of it. And then she was like, yeah, Cynthia had a problem too. I was like, you know, maybe you guys should send a van. Send a car.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Remember the 16 seater that we did end up spending a lot of time in. Anyway, I do remember that. And I was like, if Cynthia had a problem, I don't feel so bad. Yeah.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
But then remember how we both lived on the Upper West Side. Yes. And they would pick us up.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Thank God. And they would pick us up together, which was really fun.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And Cynthia very kindly would run lines with me. Because remember those times when I had those big speeches?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like, like very didactic, like soapboxy, like, I'm going to get married and I'm going to follow this book and I'm going to... So hard. And, you know, I talked to Michael a little bit about like the word perfect. You know, we had to be perfect. We still have to be perfect. And comedy is very precise, you know, so I get that. But it's sometimes challenging.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And Cynthia, God bless her heart, because I live by myself. Right. So like you can only somewhat do so much work in your own head, you know, to a certain extent. And then what would happen is we'd get there and I'd get nervous and I'd like just freeze up. So on the way downtown or to Silver Cup or whatever, Cynthia would run lines with me so sweetly. Really saved myself so much. That was fun.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And like, we were like kids. That's the other thing that cracks me up. When we watch, like, do you, I don't know how you think about this, but like, we look like little children now.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
But the thing that's so funny is that I remember thinking, because I was living in L.A. before we filmed, right? And I remember thinking, like, you know, I got to get a job because, like, we don't have a lot of time here. You know, this is back when, like, when you were 40, which I don't think you probably felt because you were very theater and theater, thank God, goes on forever.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
But, like, you had this sense of, like, time is ticking. You've got to, like, make the most of it because you're not going to last long.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And in the value of the 20 something guys, when they cut to the guys on the basketball court, which is one of the most enjoyable.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
It's finally like for me, that's when the other people talking clicks in. Right. In a great way. Right. Because it's all these guys and they're not so horrible. Like in the pilot, every man is just like, right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
So finally, some of them are kind of likable. And one of them, you know, I think it starts the basketball confessionals. And he says, you know, the great thing about women in their 30s is they're just so grateful. Like, wow. Where we're going to go. The journey we're going to go on, people. Oh, my God. Who would have ever thought? Yeah. Right? Yeah.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And back then, I remember also feeling, because when I was auditioning, I would always just lie about my age. Like, whatever age the character was, you'd pick like a year older or a year younger. And that's how old you'd say you were. At least that's what I did. That's what all my friends did in L.A. Wow. So for me, I was like, oh, thank God we're playing women in our 30s. I can stop lying.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
You know, it's so exciting, right? Like it was such a weight off my mind. And then I look at us, I'm like, we're like little tiny babies.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And they also don't date. I mean, they, I guess they don't.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
One hundred percent. Yes. And that's what was so, so special and amazing about it. Now, let's talk about themes. Part of the reason I wanted to do Are You a Charlotte was because it seems like, I mean, first of all, you know, Netflix, we're on Netflix now, which is like we could never have imagined these things. Right. Right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And all these younger people are finding us, which is so exciting and really kind of amazing and wonderful. And the themes are still so resonant. Yes, totally. And it's kind of just a testament to our writing, you know, and to just the, I mean, it was kind of just bravery on, I guess.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Right, right, right, right. So true. But when you think back on the themes, like what do you think of in terms of like Miranda's themes or, you know, what stands out to you? What do you think of as your favorite themes or your favorite relationships or things like that?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Oh, she's certainly more experimental than you realize, for sure.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
It was the book, Kiss and Tell, in the back of the book. But wasn't it even before that?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
But I also think that is what I love about when we think back. And I kind of was aware of this at the time because like, for instance, you weren't Miranda, right? So you playing Miranda, you brought different things to it. You brought kind of some friction to it. Sarah Jessica is not Carrie, you know, and she didn't want to show her body all the time, you know, so it created kind of a friction.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Like all of us being together and being such different people, right? created kind of an interesting friction. Charlotte wanting to get married, but also being the one who literally has the most, you know, hookups or whatever. It's interesting, right? Like it wasn't as much as people think that we were archetypes and whatnot, which I get, right? It really was more complex than that.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And certainly like the underlying thing, as opposed to what we were showing, I think created a depth and like a frisson kind of thing.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Which is what's so great, how it unfolds. Right. Yeah.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
threatening he's not competing with her for supremacy and she doesn't feel like he might walk away and break her heart right oh and what a great character great character great character i know i know all right so i could talk to cynthia for many many hours as you can tell so we're going to make this into two episodes you guys please tune in to the next one
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
And is this just casting directors at this point? Like Billy Hopkins, Kerry Barton?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Oh, yeah, yeah. Did they know that Sir Jessica was potentially Carrie yet?
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Wow. I didn't know this. It's amazing. And so in your, in your like gut or your heart or whatever, did you feel connected? Like, yes, I want to do this. Like, this is amazing. Or did you just feel like, ah, I felt like it's feel felt like the Holy grail.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
Well, and I mean, in some ways that's true. And then in some ways it's not.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
She wants to eat her thing out of the garbage. Exactly. Right, right, right. So when you took it on, like, remember, I mean, you have these kind of aggressive power suits and whatnot in the beginning, you know? Like, what did you think? Right.
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
silver and spiky and like it is like armor definitely definitely definitely i mean yeah i think that when i watch myself too i mean i think a lot of things but one of the things i do think because i had come from melrose where you had to like hold still because they were going to do the super close-up right and just stare at the other person right and i'm always like i'm you barely see my face for like the first couple episodes or whatever because i'm just working so hard to be present and be real and
Are You A Charlotte?
Cynthia Nixon is here...
you know, follow your lead and follow Sarah Jessica and Kim and, you know, Kim's doing her own thing. And, you know, it's like super interesting to look back on. And I do remember thinking, you know, like this is different, you know, like this is its own animal.