Samantha Jones may not be the only character missing from “Sex and the City” when the beloved HBO franchise returns later this year.
If The New York Post’s Page Six is correct, Chris Noth won’t be reprising his role as Mr. Big in “And Just Like That...,” HBO Max’s hotly anticipated “Sex and the City” revival that’s due out in the fall. The actor, whose other credits include “Law & Order” and “The Good Wife,” played the on-again, off-again love interest of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw on all six seasons of “Sex and the City” and its two subsequent movies.
The report also suggested that actor David Eigenberg, who played Steve Brady, is still negotiating whether to join the 10-episode series.
HBO Max didn’t respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on the report, which has since been corroborated by “The Today Show” and New York Magazine, among other outlets.
The news came as a blow to many “SATC” fans, some of whom have already expressed grievances over the well-publicized absence of Kim Cattrall as Samantha in the project.
“The new ‘Sex and the City’ sounds like a mess,” one person wrote. “How are they explaining the absence of such crucial characters? Are they giving them all COVID-19?” Added another: “No Samantha, no Big, NO POINT.”
Those who are especially well-versed in “Sex and the City” history, however, may not be as surprised. In 2018, journalist James Andrew Miller reported that Mr. Big was meant to die of a heart attack in “Sex and the City 3,” though it’s unclear whether the new series will draw from that now-defunct script.
That same year, Noth himself criticized the two previous films in an interview for Miller’s “Origins” podcast. “I really hate corny stuff and it could be because I’m a little bit of a cynic,” he said, pointing to a scene from the first movie. “I just hate the cornball shit and I thought it was just really sentimental and overly romantic without any feet in realism.”
Still, he didn’t rule out eventually returning to the “SATC” universe altogether, noting, “I’m a team player.”
Though it remains to be seen if “And Just Like That...” will portray Samantha (and, now, purportedly Mr. Big) severing ties with Carrie, HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys offered a simple explanation earlier this month concerning the prospect.
“Just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave,” Bloys told TVLine. “They’re trying to tell an honest story about being a woman in her 50s in New York. So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you’re 30, you may not have when you’re 50.”