Sarah Jessica Parker recently sat down for an interview with Time in anticipation of the debut of her new HBO show Divorce. Here are some highlights from the interview:
Frances, your Divorce character, is not always sympathetic. Are audiences ready for a heroine so complicated?
"We used to go back and forth: “Should Carrie have an affair?” And I’m like, “Guys, Tony Soprano is a murderer!” Frances is real. She is a smart person. And we weren’t with her for those 17 years of marriage. We’re with her now—she’s exhausted and she’s made some bad choices. But those choices are going to be very familiar to some people."
Were you concerned that your two big TV characters are both defined in part by their relationships with men?
"I see Divorce as a portrait of two people. Divorce, I learned, is that the very act of trying to get away from the other person requires that you do it with the other person you’re trying to get away from. I always felt that Carrie’s journey was toward love and home. It was how she chose to go about capturing love. Frances feels to me in a way more isolated, more alone, because she’s made decisions in a very different way. Neither of them feel defined by the men with whom they are entangled. I’m a woman, so what is familiar to me you might see in a way that I might not recognize."
You’re opening yourself up to celebrity life and the public eye once again. Is that hard?
"My life is speculated about—my marriage is, constantly. I don’t imagine that it will become so much more dense that that will become overwhelming to me. I’ve weathered the worst already. The work is important to me. I want it to be well received. That matters to me. I care about trying to separate what matters and what doesn’t. I read, but I don’t read about myself. Sometimes, it’s brought to my attention for reasons that are legitimate. I’m much more human than people think. I’m easily hurt, still, after all these years. I have developed a tougher skin, but I’ve worked really hard and the show is interesting and important and I’m proud of my work and that’s all I can do. I can’t control it beyond that. I’d like to control it, but I can’t."
How do you push back against the rumors that you feuded with castmates on Sex and the City?
"You answer when they’re deserving and worthy of an answer, and the rest you let go, and let your reputation speak for itself. It was always so heartbreaking to me that there was this narrative about Kim [Cattrall] and myself because it just didn’t reflect anything that happened on that set. They just didn’t do it to the Sopranos guys. It was so strange to me and upsetting. I posted something on Kim’s birthday and people were like “Oh my God, I didn’t know you liked her!” What? We were all at liberty to walk away at any time! But nobody asked those questions of shows with men. Isn’t that interesting?"
Questions about a potential third Sex and the City film tend to come up no matter what you’re promoting. Is it frustrating to not be able to move on?
"I would be a fool to feel burdened by that, or frustrated or resentful. I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you about Divorce if it weren’t for Sex and the City. The last movie came out in 2010. It was 13 years of my life, give or take—how better to have spent a career? And now it’s time for me to do something else."
Read the full interview at Time.
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