How Sarah Jessica Parker Really Felt About ‘The Carrie Diaries’
You probably reacted to the news of The Carrie Diaries with either giddy excitement or pure anger. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) was an iconic character on HBO’s Sex and the City, a show that followed her and her three friends Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), dealing with love and life in New York City. But creating a prequel can be a tricky business.
Parker, for her part, reacted to The Carrie Diaries in a way that suggested she was less than enthused about the idea of a Carrie Bradshaw prequel.
‘The Carrie Diaries’ added more to the story of Carrie Bradshaw
The series premiered on The CW in 2013 and starred AnnaSophia Robb as a teenage Carrie Bradshaw. It centered on her formative years in the fictional Castlebury, Connecticut, where she lived with her youngster sister Dorrit (Stefania Owen) and their father Tom (Matt Letscher). Carrie was 16 when she secured a law-firm internship in New York City, marking the beginning of her love affair with the Big Apple.
“The show is definitely its own thing,” Robb told College Magazine of the series. “You’ll know what I mean when you watch it. It’s very different because it’s a coming of age story of firsts.”
But there were also some hints of the original show, she said, evidenced in “Carrie’s first love, her first internship as a writer and of course, her first pair of Manolos.”
“Carrie experiences things very fully and I wanted to capture that,” Robb added.
Sarah Jessica Parker reacted to ‘The Carrie Diaries’
When Net-A-Porter’s The Edit approached Parker about her feelings on The Carrie Diaries, the SJP Collection designer had nothing but good things to say about Robb, whom she called “lovely.” But she was “not sure” about what to make of the show.
“You know, I think it’s one of those tests of your generosity,” Parker told the website (via Us Weekly). “She [AnnaSophia Robb] is a lovely girl and I want her to feel good about it, but it’s … odd.”
The Carrie Diaries was also met with mixed reviews from critics, with Vulture saying it felt “dull” and Slant Magazine giving it one out of four stars. It was, however, a satisfying watch to many Sex And The City fans eager to learn more about Carrie. But that wasn’t enough to keep the show going, with The CW canceling the series after just two seasons. The show aired its last episode in January of 2014.
But the story continues
And just like that, the Carrie Bradshaw prequel was over. Fortunately for fans, HBO continued her story in the Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That….
Released in December of 2021, the 10-episode series focused on Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte as women in their 50s. While it was also met with mixed reviews, it was a big hit for HBO — so much so that a second season feels like a growing possibility. Viewers can find the show now on HBO.
