On The Tube
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
tired of either the
show or her co-
stars. "It's out of
affection that we're
ending it. I can't
imagine loving a
job more or loving
the people more
stuff your mother didn't even think
than these people I'm with 18 hours a
about behind closed doors. It's the show day. As you can see clearly, I'm having a
that's never heard of a sexual taboo.
hard time explaining it all."
And while Parker says she knows she's
She pauses and sipping from a bottle
made the right decision and has
of water says, "You've caught me at a
absolutely no qualms about it, it doesn't
very vulnerable time in my life because
mean she isn't torn and troubled by
I have an enormous attachment and
leaving Carrie high and dry, so to speak. affection for those I work with. It's a
In a lavish suite in New York's St.
complicated decision.
Regis Hotel, sitting next to Michael
"All of us girls on the show went
Patrick King (writer and driving force
from 32 to 39, and there were big
behind the loves and lives of Carrie and
changes for all of us personally and
the rest of the sexy gang), Parker halting- professionally," she notes.
ly admits it's not easy walking away from
Soon after she began the show she
the show — while 15 floors below her,
married actor Matthew Broderick
the film crew were setting up for the
(both Parker and Broderick are chil-
grand finale scene with
dren of
her co-stars.
Jewish moth-
Wearing a white
ers and non-
body-clinging stretch
Jewish
T-shirt under a waisted
fathers). Two
white silk Asian jacket,
years ago,
over a short billowing
Parker, who
emerald green dance
turns 39 in
dress, (exactly the kind
March, had
of wacky, high fashion
her first baby
outfit Carrie wears on
— a son
the show, which has
named James.
endeared her to
The family
American fashionistas
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw Broderick, she
everywhere), she notes
says, spent a
the decision to end the
lot of time debating the idea of jump-
life and times of the Big Apple fashion
ing off the Sex wagon. Matthew
plate was not sudden. "When I was
Broderick, who recently returned to
pregnant, I started thinking I must
Broadway in a reprise of his star turn as
play something very different now,"
the wimpy accountant Leopold Bloom
she recalls.
in the hit musical The Producers, told
But while professionally she could
his wife, "You do what you are happy
make that decision quite easily, she
with. Whatever you decide to do, I'm
knows the ramifications for her are much behind you all the way."
broader than where her next job is corn-
While the show has made its star and
ing from. "Carrie was never a 9 to 5
her pals international icons, there have
job," she says. "This show has changed
been lots of other perks besides their fat
my life personally and professionally. I
salaries — among them enough fabu-
can't begin to know the great sadness that lous designer clothes and Manolo
will envelop me when I leave these peo-
Blahnik shoes to fill a dozen wardrobes.
ple. I have ambulances lined up for [the
"For someone who has loved clothing
end of] February."
for as long as I can remember, it's been
The decision to walk away does not
thrilling," says Parker. "For so long, I've
in any way imply that she had grown
had the opportunity to wear extraordi-
After a six-season run on HBO, "Sex and the City"
debuts its final episode on Sunday.
IVOR DAVIS
Featurewell,com
I
t was soon after I got pregnant,"
recalls Sarah Jessica Parker, "that
I seriously started thinking
about the future of Carrie. I
woke up one day and thought that we
should quit the show — walk away
while we were at the top."
However, since the decision was
made public that Carrie and her best
pals Miranda, Charlotte and Sathantha
would soon be walking into the
Manhattan sunset, Parker admits she's
been a basket case.
"If I thought too much about ending,
I couldn't have shown up for work every
day. So I didn't allow myself even to
ponder the great seismic shift," she says.
While Sarah's co-stars Kim Cattrall, •
Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are in
an even worse state because they don't
quite see eye to eye with her on the need
to call a halt to a show that has become
a national habit to millions of women,
they had no way of altering her decision.
So that means the high-flying lives
of the fabulous four will soon be over:
Manhattan writer/sex guru Carrie
Bradshaw, who is perpetually search-
ing for love, will hang up her Apple
computer for good when the final
episode of Sex and the City debuts 9
p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, on HBO.
"I know deep in my heart that this
is the time to pull the plug," says
Parker. "My brain tells me that while
Sex and the City is comfortable, lucra-
tive, thrilling and extremely satisfying,
we have to do new things. It's scary,
but it's the only way to go."
The show became an instant smash
hit that invented a whole new definition
for "girl talk," where the four leading
ladies — each one very different from
the other — had one major thing in
common: They were anything but
shrinking violets. Their girl talk meant
getting down and dirty about all the
(Bands
Ifs .rUeremony Music .1 Comedians .11 Magicians .r Caricaturists J Clowns •1✓
"Let us design a complete party package
for your next simcha."
FENBYSTEIN
1 ENTERTAINMENT
2/20
2004
52
Jerry Fenby
Band
WE SPECIALIZE IN BANDS, D.J.s, CEREMONY MUSIC,
12 CHILDRENS ENTERTAINMENT, NATIONAL ACTS, THEMED PARTIES
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
nary, one-of-a-kind, magnificently built
dresses that I would never have had an
opportunity to wear."
Since the show made its debut in June
1998, Carrie and the gang have become
international symbols of sexually adven-
turous women. Perfect strangers, says
Sarah, come up to her and tell her their
most intimate sexual secrets.
"Many women look to Carrie as the
guru who can solve all their sex prob-
lems," she says. "They tell me things that
I don't want to hear —things that some-
times make me blush. But I'm so thrilled
that the show has been so resonant for so
many women. Carrie provided a fresh
voice and a forthright and candid way of
communicating with people.
"I think the show is provocative and
pretty explicit, specially in conversa-
tions with each other about subjects
women don't usually discuss on main-
stream TV. Some of the girls are more
sexually active than others, but that still
doesn't mean they are immoral. The
women are comfortable with their sex-
uality — and comfortable talking to
each other about such personal things.
"Carrie's a listener and because she
writes from this point of view, women
see her and her liberated gorgeous friends
through her eyes. She's the consistent
kind of heartbeat — she's meant to be
the sort of the soul of the show. And
because of that accessibility, people feel
very comfortable letting it all hang out."
Meanwhile Parker, who started as a
child actress, says while all her focus
has been on the final episodes of the
show, in the back of her mind there's
the "what next?" question. "I've been
an actress for 31 years and I've always
tried to make good, smart wise choices
— and try not to embarrass my family
too much," she laughs. "I like to feel
good when I go home at night."
HBO debuts the final episode of
"Sex and the City" 9 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 22. Sex and the
City: Countdown to the Series
Finale, an hour of clips and inter-
views with the cast, crew and
celebrity fans, precedes the final
episode and begins at 8 p.m.
Check your local listings.
* ** * *STAIRWAY LIFTS*****
THE CAREFREE WAY TO
CLIMB STAIRS
When you're disabled, or just not able to move around as
freely as you once could, stairs can be a real problem.
But there is a simple answer. The powered stairway lift.
Easily installed to fit curved or straight stairs. They give
you back the ability to move around your own home.
Folds back-gets in nobody's way.
CALL OR STOP BY FOR A FREE DEMONSTRATION
80,3470
(248)- 474-9966 www.fenbysteinentertainmenteom
Ltsumpaulo3 t aisnw AUM112183 SJI11 T spuerzameads r SJUMEd aael
ACTON RENTAL & SALES
LARRY ARONOFF
I love my
Stairway Lift!
It takes me up
and down the
stairs with the
push of a but-
ton. Call for
details!
(313) 891-6500 (248) 540-5550 .„.