Yahoo News Kristin Davis on Why Charlotte Feels 'Freer' on 'And Just Like That...' After Landing on a MILF List
The actress tells PEOPLE she credits 'Sex and the City' revival director Michael Patrick with stretching her performance: "He'll say, 'Why don't we just go for it and don't think at all?'"
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from the third episode of season 2 of Max’s And Just Like That...
Kristin Davis's Sex and the City good girl Charlotte York has been known for many facets of her life over the years — art dealer, Upper East Sider, wife, mom and, yes, the woman who soiled herself in Mexico (sorry, Char, we haven't forgotten!).
On Thursday’s episode of the SATC revival And Just Like That…, Charlotte added a new distinction to her résumé when she and Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker) learned that one of their kids’ classmates ranked them third and second, respectively, on a list of the school’s MILFs. When the school called a meeting with the parents to discuss how to handle the boy who made the ranking, Charlotte and Lisa agree he needed to be reprimanded — until they saw the teen in question and decided he was too good-looking to punish.
Davis, 58, thinks these nuances make Charlotte a more compelling character. “Charlotte's got to go through what Charlotte's got to go through or she wouldn't be an interesting character,” she tells PEOPLE.
Related: 'And Just Like That...' Carrie Faked COVID to Avoid Recording Her Audiobook
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As far as Charlotte's evolution since her single girl days, Davis says, “I think that the essence of her is certainly the same, but there's so many things that she's learned and grown through her experience. It would not be fun if she hadn't grown.”
The Emmy nominee credits AJLT writer/director Michael Patrick King with pushing boundaries — both for her as an actress and for Charlotte as a character.
“He'll say, ‘Let's try it this way,’ which is the more expected way of Charlotte. And then he'll say, ‘Why don't we just go for it and don't think at all?’ And I'll do it and that's what he ended up using,” Davis says. “That's the fun of knowing people as well as we know each other and having people that will let you stretch as an actor and let the character evolve. That's all the joys of having 25 years together.”
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The mom of two teases that more unexpected adventures await Charlotte this season because the show got to be a bit “freer” this time around. “There's something towards the end of this season where you definitely haven't seen this from Charlotte,” Davis says.
Davis realizes it may have been a bit of an adjustment to see Charlotte, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) in these new phases of life when And Just Like That… kicked off.
“I didn't really think through all of the things that we were asking our audience to do in terms of the changes and the character storylines,” she says. “In the Charlotte way, I was just so excited and hopeful. I didn't necessarily understand on a deep level that they were going to have so many feelings of shock and upset or whatever. So once I did get that, I was like, ‘Oh that does make sense, because we really are asking a lot of them.’”
Davis feels that “it's tremendously important to be able to see women” during all of these different eras, though.
“Why shouldn't we get to see women go through all these phases of life?” she asks. “Our industry is set up in a way that doesn't necessarily foster that kind of longevity. We have been, to some extent, rule breakers the whole time. We're just lucky that they did. We don't take it for granted ever that we're still able to do it. And not only do it, but do it on our terms. Sometimes I just can't even believe it.”
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And Just Like That… season 2 is streaming now on Max.
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