Kim Cattrall famously turned down Sex and the City four times, before finally getting on board to play Samantha Jones.
But Cattrall on Saturday recalled her first acting audition after leaving theater school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City had her feeling dread and terror. “To go out to the real world, where people could say no, was terrifying to me,” she said while discussing her journey as an actor at Tribeca Festival Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal.
Well before Cattrall played Jones on Sex and the City, the HBO sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2004, she auditioned for early roles that were mostly victimized women characters. That contrasted with her earlier experience in live theater where more powerful women characters were more available.
“I was so disappointed that they were asking so little of me, other than to cry or to be hurt or emotionally unstable or drunk,” she remembered about auditions for early movie or TV roles. Still the British-Canadian-American actress learned to do her best in auditions and that if she didn’t get the role, it might not have been meant for her to play, “which was a positive thing for a young actor to do,” Cattrall added.
Now, with time and experience, the Sex in the City star said she has grown to love and embrace acting. “I love my job. I love it. It’s difficult, it’s complicated, but when it goes well, it’s so satisfying,” Cattrall insisted.
“You have a dream of doing this profession and working with people who have the highest point in their evolution, and to be part of that, it’s better than any drug or any sexual climactic experience,” she added. Acting success has also brought Cattrall the luxury of no longer fearing being judged, except by herself.
“It’s your work, but people’s opinions of me are none of my business. I don’t want to know,” she told the Tribeca Festival Lisboa event. That’s comes as Cattrall acutely feels her early years as a young actor are far behind her.
“I don’t know how many years I have left. I want to have fun. I want to remain curious, of course,” she said. “It’s a great joy to hear people laugh. It’s something that you created or made and because what’s going on in the world is terrifying and democracy is fragile, and we need each other, and what better way to bring us together than through enjoyment.”
Tribeca Festival Lisboa wraps on Saturday.
