SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Under the Table,” Season 3, Episode 5 of “And Just Like That,” now streaming on Max.
“And Just Like That” is a show about women in transition, and Charlotte is experiencing a particularly painful kind.
In the most recent episode, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) learned that her husband Harry (Evan Handler) has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. While he’s optimistic about his chances, Charlotte, unaccustomed to giving up control, is consumed by anxiety, forcing herself through the motions on a “glamping” trip with the family of Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker) and unable to speak aloud news of Harry’s ailment. It’s the only thing on her mind, and the only thing she cannot bring herself to say. “And Just Like That” is frank about grief — Carrie’s mourning her late husband Big was the primary driver of Season 1 — and, while Harry is still with Charlotte and doing OK, now the show deals with the sort of grief one feels for a life without the worry over a family member’s health.
Davis, who has been playing Charlotte since the 1998 premiere of “Sex and the City,” has rarely been given material so painful to play; even in the hardest of times, Charlotte is an optimist, but here, she’s confronting her worst fear. The actress has been reliving the show’s early going on her rewatch podcast “Are You a Charlotte?,” giving her an odd kind of perspective on how the character of Charlotte, and her world, have evolved over 27 years. She spoke to Variety about Charlotte’s current plotline and what lies ahead for her over the course of Season 3.
What was your reaction when you learned that the writers were setting up a storyline where Harry would be ill and Charlotte would be caring for him?
I knew something would happen, right? We couldn’t just go on, if you know what I mean. I was relieved that it wasn’t something horrible. It could have been worse — at least I didn’t have to cheat on him or something like that, right? That would be so out of character; it would make no sense. I knew Michael [Patrick King] wouldn’t do that, but I was like, Oh, God — cancer. Which is how Charlotte feels, and, of course, how everyone would feel.
But the thing that I love, that you’ll see in the second half, is that it has a really great way that it goes — in terms of Charlotte having to keep the secret that Harry wants her to keep, and the toll that it takes on her. She’s trying to take care of him, and then she’s trying to fulfill his wishes about who she tells or doesn’t tell. So she really doesn’t have her friends, and she ends up not taking care of herself.
This is something that a lot of people relate to — women and men — if you have a partner who gets a disease, and you forget to take care of yourself. It has a comedic element to it, which was really fun and scary to do, but it’s just really true to life. It seems like a perfect storyline for Charlotte that she would, of course, forget to take care of herself, and then have her own health issue because she forgot to take care of herself.
There’s a scene you share with Nicole Ari Parker — Charlotte and Lisa’s families are “glamping” together and there’s so much on Charlotte’s mind that she can’t express. On a show that’s so verbal, it was impressive that you found a moment of connection beyond words.
There you have Michael Patrick; he’s such a great writer. Charlotte, especially, talks a lot, so for her to be quiet — it’s great.
I think of Charlotte as an optimistic, ebullient character. To carry that heaviness must have been challenging for you.
I hadn’t thought about that. I’m so in her — I’ve been playing her for so long, and sometimes I have things going on in life that she doesn’t have. In some ways, it was a great opportunity for me not to have to separate out myself to be the light, light Charlotte. Because obviously life is complicated. Having to keep the secret from the girls in those scenes was hard for me, of course — but it was good hard.
Finding the humor in darkness can be a very powerful thing — but it’s a balancing act. Wringing jokes out of the situation must have been a bit tricky.
It’s always hard — that’s the joy in the writing, is that you’ve got conflicting things happening, which is a lot of how life is.
You’ve been playing this character for 27 years. Did this plotline cast into relief for you how much Charlotte and Harry have been through?
It’s hard to remember that sometimes. It’s good to be reminded — but when you’re in the moment, [the history is] there, but you’re trying to make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to do right now. But it informs everything.
When I’m looking back at the old show for my podcast, I’m always like, Wow. All these things happen that I forgot — it’s impossible to remember it all, just like how in our regular lives, it’s impossible to remember everything.
It must be surreal talking about old episodes on the podcast while also making new episodes. How do you hold it all in your mind?
I just focus on what I have to focus on right then, but it does inform it. I look at the evolution of the first show, now, through different eyes, now that we’re doing the second show, and we’re getting the opportunity to evolve the second show in the same way we did the first. It’s the same characters, but it’s a different show, and getting to go through different phases of getting back together, going through what we had to go through in the first season, the changes of the second season, and now we’re here — third season. We’re more settled.
“Sex and the City” took a couple of seasons to become the series that fans most vividly remember, and “And Just Like That” has evolved creatively as well. What does it feel like on the inside of it?
I feel that way when I look at it — and I’m able to, because we had a little bit of a break [before] filming [Season 3], whereas the first two seasons, we were going really quickly. This time we had a little bit of a breather. We have gotten to settle and gotten to do something more cinematic this season. The locations are beautiful and kind of big — it’s big New York. We were able to realize it, and I love when we do.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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