A show titled Sex and the City would be accused of false advertising if it was devoid of risque humour. However, while the Manhattan foursome at the centre of the HBO series cracked jokes about everything from habit-forming vibrators to, err, “golden showers,” there was one topic far too taboo for even the actress responsible for most of the show’s dirty jokes.
The podcast Origins, with James Andrew Miller (in partnership with Cadence13) is currently tackling the history of Sex and the City, and in the episode "Bright Lights, Bigger City" of the audio series, the show's creator Michael Patrick King revealed the one topic which star Kim Cattrall — who portrayed sex-positive publicist Samantha Jones — did not want to touch.
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“There was one storyline where Kim said, ‘This is too far,’” said King on the podcast. “It was [Samantha] talking to a 13-year-old girl about a blowjob, and we changed it.”
It makes sense why Cattrall thought this moment crossed the line: While the women of Sex and the City talked freely about their sex lives, they are all adults.
Which is not to say that Cattrall delivered any of Sam’s dirtier punchlines off camera. According to Kristin Davis on the podcast, it was Cattrall who was the least like her character.
“She was never wild like that,” revealed Davis. “She was not as brash and what not... You know, she’s kind of a homebody… [with] different energy.”
These days, Cattrall prefers to keep Sex and the City in her rearview mirror, having reportedly declined to do a third spin-off film.
"My heart isn’t in it anymore," Cattrall wrote in an Instagram comment, in response to fan who asked her to continue the film franchise. "I’ve moved on. 61 isn’t 53 or 41. I have learned so much from our Sam. She was my hero but I want to rest & not work as much as I have been doing for years. I want a less hectic live [sic]. My decision reflects where I am in my life & I can’t change that without being unhappy.
A classy response from someone who wanted to keep Sex and the City just the right level of dirty.