Actor Cynthia Nixon brought back her fan-favorite character Miranda Hobbes with a queer twist in HBO Max’s And Just Like That.... Nixon recently shared that she always believed Miranda was queer so, when showrunner Michael Patrick King approached her with the idea, she was more than willing to explore new sides of that character and her sexuality. Nixon also made her directorial debut with And Just Like That..., Season 1 Episode 6, "Diwali."
During Variety’s Actor on Actor interview, Nixon spoke to SNL’s Bowen Yang about her experience coming back to the Sex and the City franchise and directing an episode. While she'd directed some plays in the past, directing on film was a completely new experience for her. “I was unprepared for how supportive everybody would be. I assumed that they would be game and willing, but it was almost like they were all my parents,” she said. Yang also points out that her episode moved the story forward in a lot of ways with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) moving and Miranda realizing she’s obsessed with Che (Sara Ramirez).
Yang also asked Nixon about a scene in the episode prior to the one she directed, where Miranda has sex with Che for the first time. Filming sex scenes always require an abundance of vulnerability and can often be extremely awkward. Luckily for Nixon and Ramirez, having a queer woman in the writer's room made all the difference. Nixon explained, "[Episode writer] Samantha Irby was telling us all about that scene before we ever got to read it. Having a queer woman in the writers’ room writing this queer sex scene, my wife was like, “I know it’s going to be hot and I know it’s going to be real.” Further, breaking down the making of the scene she added:
"We had an intimacy coordinator and we tried to do it in different ways. Miranda, in the next episode, keeps having fantasies. And so we were going to shoot it at the same time, but make it look different because things look different when we remember them than when they’re actually happening."
For Miranda, it was a breakthrough moment of acceptance and starting all over again after all the anguish that happened earlier in the series. Nixon continued, “And you have to feel both the sexual jolt and also the emotional breakdown that happens later, not just that this thing that happens is earth-shattering, but also that she’s been in winter for so long. It’s both of those things.”
Along with Nixon, And Just Like That... brings back Sex and the City Stars Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw and Kristin Davis as Charlotte York. HBO Max has also renewed the series for Season 2.
And Just Like That… Season 1 is streaming on HBO Max.