“I really didn’t think I was going to do it — I was very reluctant,” she was quoted as saying. “But the more I talked to Sarah Jessica, [writer-creator] Michael Patrick King, and Kristin [Davis], about the things that I couldn’t go back without — a real sea change in terms of the lack of diversity in the original series, they were on board.”
It turns out that while Nixon said she’s “very proud of the original series” she also found it “occasionally tone deaf on race and gender.”
But she was convinced to return after seeing storyline changes, including the addition of new characters and the opportunity to focus on the lives of women in their 50s — not all that common in television.
“The characters are 55 so they’re in menopause. And menopause is the punchline of a lot of jokes and certainly has its unpleasant aspects,” Nixon said. “But it’s a time when women have spent decades looking after other people and can again focus on themselves: who am I? Who do I want to be?”
