Sarah Jessica Parker Revealed Which 'Sex and the City' Criticism Struck a Nerve at the Start
For years, Sex and the City was one of the most loved and talked-about shows on TV. And while that undoubtedly came with a lot of benefits for its stars, including Sarah Jessica Parker herself, it also meant being susceptible to criticism.
In a new interview with Alex Cooper in Call Her Daddy, Parker looked back at some of the tougher times after the show came out.
When asked which “discussions” hurt the most after the show’s release in 1998, Parker said it was “discussions of my physical person.” “Stuff that I couldn’t change and wouldn’t change and had never considered changing, or still even after hearing something that was like, ‘What? Somebody would say that?'” she said. “Even still, no interest in changing it.”
“Also, I didn’t feel like it was actually a conversation,” Parker remembered, noting how isolating it felt. “I didn’t feel like I could sit in a room and someone would say to me, ‘You’re really unattractive,’ and then I could say, ‘Wow. Well, first of all, that’s hard to hear. But second of all, why do you seem angry about it, or why do you feel it’s necessary to comment?'”
Those criticisms then reached a turning point when she read “really mean” criticisms of her looks in a magazine.
“It was like a kick in the rubber parts,” Parker said. “I was just like, ‘Why is this a problem? Why is this deserving of your time? And why do you seem to delight in saying it?’”
At the time, she called two of her friends and let it all out. “I was sobbing because it felt so purposeful,” she said. “That’s the only time I really cried about it. I think it was just an accumulation of maybe a season of that kind of commentary.”
As Cooper related to having critics going after her left and right, Parker, coincidentally referring to her character Carrie’s iconic phrase, said, “I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Would you say it to my face?'” “They would never,” Cooper responded. We couldn’t agree more!
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