You can always count on Kim Cattrall to tell it like it is.
If the last two years of back-and-forth with literally anyone who’s had something to say about the scrapped plans for a third Sex and the City film and the erstwhile Samantha Jones’ steadfast desire to have nothing to do with it has proven anything, it’s that the spitfire character from HBO’s groundbreaking comedy was more like the actress bringing her to life than we ever really knew. After all, when did Sam Jones ever back down from a fight?
Whether it’s been fighting off reports of diva demands, getting real about her relationship (or lack thereof) with former co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, or bluntly telling SATC fans hungry for more to move the hell on, Cattrall has not held back. And while her blunt form of honesty is nothing new—truthfully, it may be her honest assessment of pay disparity amongst her SATC co-stars that started all this animosity in the first place—we can certainly expect more of it now that she’s returning to TV as the lead in Fox’s new southern Gothic soap Filthy Rich, debuting in early 2020.
While we await her return to the small screen, let’s celebrate Cattrall’s birthday—she turns 63 on Wednesday, Aug. 21—by taking a look at her most DGAF quotes. After all, who doesn’t love a little refreshing candor on their birthday?
New Line Cinema
On why a third Sex and the City movie wouldn’t work:
“I think the climate changed. To have four women talking about shopping trips and spending $400 on shoes when people are having trouble putting food on the table? It doesn’t mean we don’t need that but I think the pendulum swung in a different direction.” – Scottish outlet The Daily Record, 2016
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Clearing up rumors:
“The only ‘DEMAND’ I ever made was that I didn’t want to do a 3rd film….& that was back in 2016.” – Twitter, 2017
Tom Kingston/WireImage
On her treatment in the press:
“It’s quite extraordinary to get any kind of negative press about something that I’ve been saying for almost a year of ‘no,’ that I’m demanding or a diva. And this is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker, in that I think she could have been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is, I never have.” – ITV’s Life Stories with Piers Morgan, 2017
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On her friendships with the other ladies:
“And that’s another thing that’s really disappointing is that nobody ever picks up the phone and tries to contact you and say, ‘How you doing?’ That would have been the way to handle it…That’s not what happened here, this is, it feels like a toxic relationship.” – Life Stories, 2017
HBO
On knowing her limits:
“I went past the finish line playing Samantha Jones because I loved Sex and the City. It was a blessing in so many ways but after the second movie I’d had enough. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just replace me with another actress instead of wasting time bullying. No means no.” – The Guardian, August 2019
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On SATC and money, pt. 1:
“I felt after six years it was time for all of us to participate in the financial windfall of Sex and The City. When they didn’t seem keen on that I thought it was time to move on.” – Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, 2004
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On SATC and money, pt. 2:
“I thought the money was shite. I wasn’t set for life and I thought the three of us should be. But it became just my fight. And that’s [Davis and Nixon’s] choice, I don’t have a problem with people deciding what’s right for them, but it wasn’t right for me and I don’t think that’s a crime, but it became a crime because everyone wanted their Sex and the City. But to me it was about standing up for something I really believe in and saying, ‘I would like to be part of this in a way you have all been part of it on this hierarchy. You took from my life storylines and inspiration, you think that I’m brilliant, so please, allow me to have security for the rest of my life.'” – The Guardian, 2011
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On aging, both in Hollywood and elsewhere:
“Women are now expected to resemble children with no hair on their body or any kind of humanity in their faces. But when I see a woman who looks her age, she’s radiating something and it’s life. I’ve had a really full life, so I don’t have a problem with what I see on screen and I never did.” – The Guardian, 2011
HBO
A message to fans:
“Josh, I’ve played ‘SAM’ for 20 years. Am moving on & so should you. Try #SensitiveSkin my show on @Netflix.” – Twitter, 2017, in response to a fan who questioned why she said she was too old to still play Samantha.
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A guarantee:
“Me playing [Samantha again], that I can assure you will never happen. For me it’s over, it’s over with no regrets, I just wish that Sarah had been nicer. I’m at a point in my life where I am making decisions that make me happy and going backwards in life doesn’t make me happy. Going forward that’s how I feel, I’m on the front foot not my back foot.” – Life Stories, 2017
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And a message to Sarah Jessica Parker:
“My Mom asked me today “When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?” Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona.” – An Instagram plea to SJP after her brother Christopher Cattrall‘s suicide, Feb. 2018