Cynthia Nixon Defends Miranda's 'Woke' Arc on 'And Just Like That'

Cynthia Nixon says she "loved" the storyline that left many "And Just Like That" viewers bewildered: Miranda Hobbes fumbling toward what she calls becoming "a woke person at this advanced age."

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Nixon acknowledged that audiences "were so horrified by [Miranda's] sadness and alcoholism and awkwardness at trying to become a woke person at this advanced age." Her response was blunt: "I loved that."

The reboot of "Sex and the City," which originally ran for six seasons on HBO, put Miranda through several upheavals. The most contested was her romance with comedian Che Diaz, for whom she left her husband, Steve Brady, in Season 1.

What was Miranda and Steve's original arc?

In the original series, Hobbes, a lawyer, met Brady, a bartender, in Season 2. They broke up, reunited, married, and welcomed a child, Brady Hobbes, by the time the show ended. The reboot dismantled that ending — and much of the audience's attachment with it.

Nixon told the Times she signed on to the revival because the creative risks seemed worth taking. "I became convinced that we could really do interesting, dangerous things," she said. "And that we could make up for some of our past mistakes, the chief one being that it was such an overwhelmingly white show."

That promise carried a caveat the industry knows well: ambitious intent does not guarantee reception. Reactions to the reboot were, by Nixon's own account, "always a mixed bag."

What does the cancellation change?

The practical question for viewers is simple: will the story continue? It will not. Nixon said she was caught off guard when HBO decided "And Just Like That" would not return for a fourth season. "I was not at all ready," she said. "Not at all."

The network has not, according to the interview, given a fuller public accounting of the decision — and Nixon's remarks make clear the cancellation landed on her without warning.

Nixon now stars in HBO's historical drama "The Gilded Age" as Ada Forte. That series debuted in January 2022, has run for three subsequent seasons, and Season 4 premiered Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

Even with "The Gilded Age" running, Nixon noted a sobering truth about her career: "Miranda seems to eclipse everything else" she has done. That assessment comes 22 years after "Sex and the City" finished airing in 2004.

One role, in other words, still outranks the rest — including the work she is doing now, on a show that just secured another season while the one fans argued about most will not get the chance.