Rest assured, for those of us still mourning the end of the sophomoric season of And Just Like That… — the show is coming back for series three, and filming is about to begin on its third outing.
HBO announced the series’ renewal just a day before the second season’s finale aired. ‘We are thrilled to spend more time in the Sex and the City universe telling new stories about the lives of these relatable and aspirational characters played by these amazing actors,’ Michael Patrick King, the show's creator, said in a press release. ‘And Just Like That… Here comes season three.’
Sarah Aubry, the head of original content for Max added in a statement to Variety: ‘We are delighted to share that since the launch of season two, And Just Like That… ranks as the number one Max Original overall, and is the most-watched returning Max Original to date.’
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Carrie and the our favourite Manhattanites are officially coming back for more! This is everything we know so far about the third season of And Just Like That...
What will the plot of And Just Like That… Season 3 be?
Little is known yet about the plot of AJLT’s third season, but there were plot lines left open-ended in the season two finale. We rounded-off the season with Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, leaving her beloved apartment and moving forward with her rekindled relationship with her ex-fiancé, Aidan Shaw, portrayed by John Corbett.
'It’s time for her to commit more to being the relevant person she wants to be. So, what does that mean, and where might that take a person?' Parker told the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfronts presentation on May 16. 'Aidan plays a somewhat significant part in the answer to that question.'
Parker also teased some of the issues that might follow the series' protagonist in its third season. 'I think that Carrie is at a point in her life when this unthinkable event happened and then she realised that life is short and now it's time to evolve and commit more so to being the relevant person she wants to be,' the actor shared with the audience.
During the conversation, Parker also addressed fans of Sex And The City who have seen Bradshaw in an unflattering retrospective light since re-watching the series.
'Despite the shortcomings and trespasses, Carrie is a decent person in a lot of ways. At least, I think so. I’m fond of her,' she said. 'She’s been interesting to watch. It would be far less interesting if she was constantly reliable and a good person.'
As for the rest of the gang in AJLT's third season, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) called a truce with her two exes, Steve (David Eigenberg) and Che (Sara Ramirez), while Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) returned to working full-time and re-established a domestic equilibrium with Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler).
Speaking on May 7 on Today with Hoda & Jenna, Parker, who was recently spotted filming the upcoming season endorsing the 'naked' dress trend in a sheer Simone Rocha dress and jacket, said that, while she couldn't divulge specifics, the new season 'has a sort of soufflé quality to me this year.'
'It just feels really lovely,' Parker said. 'So there will be layers and complexities and complications as there always are — especially in Carrie's life.'
Who will make up the cast of And Just Like That... Season 3?
While the core cast will stay the same, there will be a few new additions for the upcoming season too.
Among them is Mehcad Brooks (Law & Order, Mortal Kombat), Jonathan Cake (The Affair, Desperate Housewives) and Logan Marshall-Green (The OC, Upgrade, Spider-Man: Homecoming) are set to recur in new roles. Fans of Marshall-Green will recall him playing Trey Atwood in The O.C, aka Ryan Atwood-Cohen's brother who went to prison, tries to rape Marissa, falls into a coma after being shot by Marissa, and moves to Las Vegas.
While Cake's role in the upcoming season was unknown, in recently released photographs from the set of the third series, it appears that his character strikes up a close relationship with Carrie. It comes after the second season of AJLT ended with Carrie going on a hiatus from Aidan, with it left unclear whether she would date again or wait for him.
Deadline reported in June 2024 that Sebastiano Pigazzi and Dolly Wells were also set to become series regulars, too. Pigazzi will return as Giuseppe, Anthony’s (Mario Cantone) new love interest and Wells as Joy, a 'to be confirmed' love interest for Miranda.
Comedian Rosie O'Donnell is also joining the cast. O'Donnell shared a photo on May 1 of a script for the show. Her character's name will be Mary, but not much more is known about the role that she will play.
And while the show will welcome some new characters, a couple of familiar faces won't be returning. Ramirez, who played Miranda's polarising love interest Che, won't be returning for the third season.
The actor recently referred to Che as 'the last character I played' in a statement made in January 2024 that also condemned the entertainment industry for allegedly making 'blacklists' of actors who show support for Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.
'Our industry is so duplicitous,' they wrote in an Instagram post on January 16. 'While they give awards away, casting directors and agents are making blacklists of actors and workers who post anything in support of Palestinians in Gaza to ensure they will not work again.
'While they lift up some of their own clients who have spoken up against this genocide, they are firing and letting others who have smaller platforms go.'
While the news has yet to be confirmed by HBO Max itself, multiple sources confirmed to Variety in late February that the character would not be written into the upcoming third season. In a May 2024 interview with Variety, Nixon herself also appeared to confirm the news of their departure from the show.
'They [Ramirez] created such an amazing character — such a controversial character, but such an amazing character,' Nixon told the outlet. 'I think they felt, and Michael Patrick felt, that that character had run its course. They came in and shook everything up, and then the arc was completed.'
Karen Pittman, who portrayed Dr. Nya Wallace in the first two series of the show, also won't be returning for its third outing. HBO Max confirmed her characters' exit from the series in March 2024 citing scheduling conflicts before Pittman confirmed, per Vanity Fair, that in leaving she is moving on to 'bigger and better things.'
'I think it was a lot of different things that didn't bring me back to the show," she said, according to the publication. 'But you know, in a perfect world I would have been able to do it and I can't. I can't do it … I love working on the show, but it just didn't work out.'
Speaking to Radio Times, Sarita Choudhury, who plays Bradshaw's BFF, Seema Patel, in the reprisal, said that it was 'hard to imagine' filming without Ramirez and Pittman.
'It's so new, the news, and we haven't started shooting, so I don't know what it's gonna be like. But it's definitely hard to imagine just because it takes a while to meld as a group. But also, I know they're doing other things now, so I'm happy for them,' she said.
And as for whether Kim Cattrall will return as Samantha Jones, after the star did in the second season’s finale, but it’s unlikely that she’ll return for the third.
Cattrall, who reportedly earned a cool £1 million for her two-minute appearance, was rumoured to have agreed to star in AJLT to mark the 25th anniversary of SATC as a gift to fans, and for that reason only.
While being interviewed on The View, she shared some of her conditions for her return.
'It’s very interesting to get a call from the head of HBO saying, "What can we do?" and I went, "Hmm. Let me get creative,"' Cattrall said. 'And one of those things was to get [costume designer] Pat Field back, because I just thought that if I’m going to come back I gotta come back with that Samantha style, I gotta push it.'
'And we did,' she added.
When will And Just Like That… Season 3 air?
Owing to the now-resolved actors' and writers' strikes in Hollywood, work on the third season of AJLT was significantly delayed, but things are finally looking up for fans of the show as, on May 10 2024, Parker was pictured filming on the streets of Manhattan for the upcoming third season.
One of the sequel's leading ladies, Nicole Ari Parker, who plays Carrie's BFF Lisa Todd Wexley, revealed to Entertainment Tonight in February 2024 that she and the cast 'go back to work in May.' While the actress remained tight-lipped about casting for season three, she teased that she had been 'sworn to secrecy' about the upcoming story lines.
On March 12 2024, Kristin Davis, who plays Charlotte Goldenblatt-York, took to her personal Instagram account to share a montage of behind-the-scenes moments from the show, writing: 'It’s almost that time again… can’t wait to be reunited with my AJLT family.'
That's not all, either. During a presentation to press on November 2 2023, streaming service Max confirmed that season three won't arrive on the platform until 2025.
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