The forthcoming Sex and the City revival, titled And Just Like That… , is tackling the long-standing inclusion issue head-on.
HBO Max on Friday announced the sequel series’ official writing team, and it’s a diverse bunch. Returning showrunner Michael Patrick King and veteran Sex scribes Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky will work alongside three non-white franchise rookies: Comedian/author Samantha Irby, former Fresh Off the Boat Co-EP Rachna Fruchbom and Black Lightning scribe Keli Goff.
King and Co. have previously been taken to task for the series’ poor track record on diversity — in front of and behind the camera. There has been speculation that the new series will surround returning leads Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon with a more inclusive inner circle, particularly given Kim Cattrall’s absence.
In an October 2017 interview with Piers Morgan, Cattrall herself implored SATC‘s creative team to recast the role of Samantha with a non-white actress. “It’s a great part,” she said at the time. “I played it past the finish line and then some, and I loved it. And another actress should play it. Maybe they could make it an African-American Samantha Jones, or a Hispanic Samantha Jones.”
As previously revealed, the sequel series — which begins production in New York in late Spring — “will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.”
