Cynthia Nixon has opened up about her role on And Just Like That and how she decided that she wanted her character to be gay.
The 56-year-old actor discussed her portrayal as Miranda Hobbes in HBO Max’s Sex and the City revival during a recent interview with Variety, detailing how the showrunner, Michael Patrick King, asked her if she wanted her character to be gay. In response, Nixon noted that it was a good idea, as it could show Miranda’s “different worlds”.
“I was like, ‘Sure, why not!,’” she explained. “If we’re trying to do different stuff, and show different worlds, and show different aspects of these characters, why not do that?”
When asked if she always thought Miranda was queer throughout Sex and the City, Nixon said “yes” and noted how Miranda has many “lesbianic qualities”.
“Even though she was only really interested in men, I think that Miranda had many other queer and frankly, lesbianic qualities about her,” she continued. “And I think for a lot of gay women, she — we didn’t have a gay woman! But she was a stand-in for the gay women we didn’t have.”
She went on to recall how Miranda often struggled with the fact that women got the “shorter end of the stick,” compared to men, and why her character found it “appealing” to be with a woman.
“Miranda has always grappled with power, and female power versus male power, and women getting the short end of the stick — and that’s a big issue for women who are queer,” she added. “I think not having to be under a man’s thumb has always been one of the very appealing things that being with another woman has to offer.”
According to King, his initial plan Miranda in And Just Like That was to have her go back to school, after quitting her job at a corporate law firm, and have an affair with her professor.
However, in an interview for Variety’s cover story on Sara Ramirez’s, who played Miranda’s love interest, Che, in the series, Nixon said that she wasn’t fond of her character dating a teacher.
“I know we’re crossing a lot of boundaries here that people have a lot of opinions about, but for me a boundary that I don’t want to see Miranda cross is dating her professor, you know? That’s not OK with me,” she explained.
To Variety, Nixon also opened up about filming a sex scene with Ramirez, highlighting how well they worked together and had good chemistry.
“You don’t find that many people that are that gorgeous, and that diversely talented,” she said. “Usually the more beautiful people just kind of coast, you know?
However, she still acknowledged that their acting styles was somewhat different when it came to preparing for the sex scene.
“Sara spent a lot of time talking to the intimacy coach,” she added. “I did not! I was like, ‘I appreciate that you’re here. If I have a question, I’ll ask you. I don’t want to sit here and talk about my levels of comfort or whatever. My level of comfort is complete.’”
Nixon is also a part of the LGBTQ+ community herself, as she’s been married to her wife, Christine Marinoni, since 2012.
