‘Sex and the City’: Alec Baldwin Nearly Played One of Carrie’s Boyfriends
Sex and the City is one of the most iconic American TV shows ever and is responsible for making a star out of Sarah Jessica Parker. Although it has long since gone off the air, the series remains popular in syndication, with fans debating every aspect of the legendary show.
One of the most hot-button topics since the series debuted is the subject of Carrie Bradshaw’s boyfriends. Fans are very divided on her romantic partners, and especially on whether Mr. Big, played by Chris Noth, was as toxic as he occasionally seemed.
Although Noth made the character of Mr. Big a towering figure, there was a time when another big-name actor was actively considered for the role on Sex and the City.
When did ‘Sex and the City’ debut on television?
Sex and the City was based on the popular book by Candace Bushnell. It debuted on HBO in 1998 and quickly became one of the network’s most buzzworthy shows. The show, which starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Kim Cattrall, was notable for the open, frank way it dealt with many issues affecting women, including sex, life in the workforce, and motherhood.
Over the years, Sex and the City earned serious critical acclaim and the show won multiple awards, including seven Emmy Awards. The actors also received a great deal of recognition, and to this day, all four of the lead actresses are closely associated with the characters that they created on the show. As dated as some material in Sex and the City has become, one topic remains evergreen with fans – the subject of Carrie Bradshaw’s many boyfriends.
Carrie Bradshaw’s controversial boyfriends
While all of the women in the show were shown to deal with romantic issues, Carrie Bradshaw was arguably the lead character in Sex and the City. As such, her romantic travails received the lion’s share of screen time.
She had many boyfriends over the years, from serious love affairs to random flings. While Mr. Big proved to be the love of her life, a few of her other boyfriends are considered by fans to be very notable. Jack Berger is one of the most reviled of all of her love interests, a fellow writer who ended up breaking things off with Carrie via a post-it note.
Aleksandr Petrovsky was one of Carrie’s unlikely loves, a Russian artist who distanced her from her friends and demanded that she fit into his art-scene world. It wasn’t until Mr. Big flew to Paris and proved the depth of his devotion to Carrie that she was able to leave Petrovsky’s influence behind.
Alec Baldwin was almost cast as Mr. Big
Mr. Big remains one of the most iconic characters in Sex and the City. A mysterious businessman who is rarely seen without his trappings of a fancy suit and fine cigar, Mr. Big is notoriously relationship-averse and hesitant to commit.
It takes years of back and forth romance between Big and Carrie before the two finally are able to find their happily-ever-after. While Chris Noth was peerless as Mr. Big, there was a time when Alec Baldwin, one of the biggest stars of the nineties, was in serious consideration for the role.
Reportedly, the creator of Sex and the City originally envisioned Baldwin as Mr. Big and was dead set on Baldwin taking the role — that is, until he met Noth early on in the casting process. At the time, Noth was best known for his long-running role on television’s Law & Order.
As Darren Star later revealed: “I don’t really watch Law & Order‘but I met with Chris Noth and thought he was perfect. I remember the first table read, how good he was.” The rest, as they say, is history.
