Sarah Jessica Parker Once Felt Jennifer Hudson Helped Address the Diversity Issue in ‘Sex and the City’
Actor Sarah Jessica Parker helped lead the HBO series Sex and the City to six successful seasons. And although her series received much critical acclaim, it did receive some flack for lacking diversity.
Sarah Jessica Parker once commented on the lack of diversity on ‘Sex and the City’
As many know, Sex and the City was the drama comedy series chronicling the lives of Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw and her three friends. The show proved popular with both fans and critics, nominated for and winning several Emmy awards during its run.
But for all of its successes, over the years some felt they noticed a lack of diversity on the show’s part. A few years ago, Parker spoke up about the diversity issue of the program. To her, the television show couldn’t have come out in more modern times because of it.
“You couldn’t make it today because of the lack of diversity on screen,” she once said at a film festival according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I personally think it would feel bizarre.”
Parker even pondered the idea of how a Sex and the City reboot might fit in with a more diverse entertainment industry.
“If you came back and did six episodes, you’d have to acknowledge the city is not hospitable to those same ideas. You’d look like you were generationally removed from reality, but it would be certainly interesting to see four diverse women experiencing NYC their way. … It would be interesting and very worthwhile exploring, but it couldn’t be the same,” she said.
Sarah Jessica Parker once felt casting Jennifer Hudson in the ‘Sex and the City’ movie helped address its diversity problem
In 2008, the successful Sex and the City movie made its debut in theaters. The film revisited where the series’ lead characters were years after the show’s series finale. But at the same time, it also introduced new characters. One of those characters was Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson, who played Parker’s assistant in the film.
Although a fresh-faced newcomer, Hudson expressed that the cast and crew embraced her with open arms into their world.
“I was nervous. But they made me feel very welcome and right at home, because it’s like one big, huge happy family. I kinda felt like the baby of the family. You know, the new baby,” Hudson once told Afro.
In a 2008 interview with Collider, Parker also noted that Hudson’s introduction helped bring attention to one of the show’s most notable flaws.
“I think it was really nice to address the fact that we never included women of color in our show. Which was always thought as one of our major shortcomings,” Parker said.
Cynthia Nixon needed to be reassured that there would be changes with diversity in ‘And Just Like That’ reboot
Sex and the City would end up returning to HBO after all. Except instead of a reboot, the new series would follow the original cast of the show. But Nixon, who played Miranda, expressed skepticism about returning to the sequel series And Just Like That.
“It was a very hard decision. I really didn’t think I was going to do it – I was very reluctant,” Nixon once said according to Herald Sun.
Nixon appreciated what the series did for her career, but she too felt there were issues regarding the show’s diversity.
“I’m very proud of the original series – despite it being occasionally tone deaf on race and gender – and being Miranda has opened up so many amazing roles for me over the years, but the further I get away from Miranda, the better they get, because people have stopped thinking of me as just that one character,” she added.
But Nixon was reassured the changes she wanted to see in a sequel would be met.
“But the more I talked to Sarah Jessica, [writer-creator] Michael Patrick King, and Kristin [Davis], about the things that I couldn’t go back without – a real sea change in terms of the lack of diversity in the original series, they were on board,” she added.
