One could lodge a litany of complaints against Sex and the City (cough, that second movie, cough), but the casting has never been one of them. Whether it's Miranda, Stanford, or Steve, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the characters we've come to love. And yet, two major roles nearly went to someone else.
Creator Darren Star revealed that Carrie Bradshaw's most notable love interests were almost played by other actors. Though Chris Noth eventually landed the role of Big, Alec Baldwin was the initial first choice.
"I was thinking of Alec Baldwin for Big initially," Star told Entertainment Weekly. "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. I’m not saying that Chris was Mr. Big, but he brought a lot of his own persona to the role."
Aidan, meanwhile, almost went to...Aidan.
"We initially were thinking about Aidan Quinn for Aidan, but I think he wasn’t available," Star added. "I loved John Corbett in Northern Exposure, and we were like, ‘Well, what’s John Corbett been up to?’ He just had the laconic, dudish vibe. But we kept ‘Aidan’ because we loved the name.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Still, we can't help but wonder if Carrie and Jack Donaghy would have hit it off.