To paraphrase a classic episode of the original HBO series, “New York City is a great place to be engaged. It’s also a great place to film in — if you’re ‘Sex and the City.’” As Michael Patrick King, the showrunner of Max’s “SATC” sequel “And Just Like That” told IndieWire, “Anytime you go to Carrie’s apartment, exterior-wise, it’s an event for everyone. They see Carrie Bradshaw in front of Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment. It’s like seeing a lion in the jungle on a safari: ‘I saw the real thing!’”
The city was always on equal footing with sex on the original series, and maybe slightly edged it out in the first season of “And Just Like That” But Season 2 puts them neck and neck, with much more sex and hi-jinks for Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and their new friends and lovers. Case in point: Miranda might don a strap-on with new partner Che, but “And Just Like That” became the first project to film in an Apple store — a decision that King said went all the way to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
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“They work so much with the show, the contact there kind of helped kick it up the flagpole to make it happen,” locations manager Julie Sage told IndieWire. “That was one of the easier ones for me on my end.”
That eagerness to be part of the “Sex and the City” universe continues unabated from the days when Magnolia had to hire “cupcake bouncers” after the series popularized its offerings. And in Season 2, these ladies who lunch really lunch. And party. And attend the Met Gala. And go to Javits Center. Carrie’s apartment might be an iconic set, but if there is a chance for her to get out into the city she once dated, she’s taking it.
“If it’s a brand that has history and a little clout, it’s easier for places that would never open up to a film crew for days on days,” King said. “And the most extravagant filming this year, we basically took over The Tin Building,” the destination restaurant and marketplace located in downtown Manhattan’s Seaport. “Jean-Georges and Lois [Freedman, President/CEO of Jean-Georges Management] let us come in. It’s a piece of New York a lot of people outside of New York haven’t seen.”
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s reminiscent of the “Sex and the City” season that filmed after the events of 9/11: Here is our city, we’re still here, we’re still fabulous. “The great thing about “Sex and the City” and the [aftermath] of 9/11 was the spirit and how the city springs back to life. And the city being alive now after the pandemic, that’s the reality. It’s now very full and alive and, for our story, Carrie’s come back to life — why wouldn’t she be out?”
That means giving the audience as much of the city as possible. If the characters are in a restaurant, better believe that it has enormous windows offering a glimpse of Manhattan even in the background. “We have a lot of restaurants where you can see the whole space,” Sage said. “A lot of New York, it’s like jigsaw kind of restaurants. [We need] more of an open landscape in the scale. “There’s a lot of small, intimate, beautiful restaurants that aren’t always gonna show up on film because you can’t fit enough people in them. It’s a lot about lighting and windows. It’s the view they wanna show.”
At the same time, “And Just Like That” works to ground itself in the reality of Manhattan circa 2023 (as much as this show can without sacrificing the glam, of course). Part of that was the shock of seeing one of the core four enter the subway last season — only to be attacked by someone dressed as Chucky. But we also saw far more of Carrie’s apartment building than “Sex and the City” ever revealed as she becomes friends with her downstairs neighbor, Lisette.
“When you write something, you always imagine the reality of it,” King said. “If I know Carrie lives above someone, then if I’m very lucky and get enough episodes, you can say, ‘What does that apartment look like? And what does that staircase look like?’” And no, you’re not imagining things: Carrie’s apartment has been tweaked from the original “Sex and the City” set. “We redesigned it so it felt like a jewel box where she wanted to be.”
But if “And Just Like That” and its characters are unabashedly in love with the city, the feeling is entirely mutual. For the first time ever, the Empire State Building — along with Javits Center, One Bryant Park, One World Trade Center, and Pier 17 — went pink in honor of the original’s 25th anniversary and the premiere of Season 2 on Max. “The city and ‘And Just Like That’ are very celebratory of the fact that we’re all still here,” King said. “It’s really important.”
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