The Sex And The City star talks about fashion, her figure and her two families.
There are few women who wouldn’t give their right leg to step into Sarah Jessica Parker’s designer heels. The world’s fashion elite stand in line to have their clothes adorn her petite, muscular body and none other than Mr Manolo Blahnik named a shoe after her.
It’s a far cry from her humble beginnings. Growing up as one of eight children, she was lucky to receive two pairs of shoes in a year. Despite her newfound riches, the 43-year-old actress is determined to give her six-year-old son James with husband Matthew Broderick the same simple upbringing … albeit in a palatial New York townhouse.
As her alter ego Carrie Bradshaw hits the big screen in Sex And The City: The Movie after a four-year wait, SJP quashes a few behind-the-scenes rumours.
What do you think is a big style faux pas?
Tanning. I look at my skin and I think, ‘Why didn’t I ever listen?’ I used to think I looked so much healthier with a tan but I was just completely damaging my skin. I can’t stand fake tan — people don’t stop until they go orange.
What are your other favourite buys?
The other thing I can never get enough of is vintage, vintage and more vintage. But so much of this is what I want for the woman I think I should be, but the woman I really am is sadly going less and less to the shops.
Did you feel pressure to lose the baby weight straight away?
I hate the fact that now pregnant women are expected to get straight back into shape after having had their babies. It’s just mad. It’s wonderful that Victoria Beckham can lose weight so quickly, but then, she has the money and the privilege to pay for a nanny to look after her baby and a trainer to look after her. What is expected of people in this way shouldn’t be expected by everybody. No disrespect to Victoria, but it’s just not real. We’ve all got so unrealistic; the average woman has to work, bring up kids, clean their own houses and run their own and a lot of other people’s lives. And on top of this there is this expectation to be perfect and glamorous and thinner than thin.
After 10 years of marriage, have your feelings toward Matthew changed at all?
This morning I was staring at him as he was walking around the bedroom. He looked so beautiful and so young. He’s got one of those faces like Paul McCartney that just never seems to age — except his is even more so than Paul McCartney’s. I kept telling him how handsome he is. He hates that. I say it to him all the time and he gets really embarrassed. You know my husband has the most amazing skin. It’s like my son’s — all fresh, perfect and sort of doughy. It’s so annoying because he never washes his face or uses any skincare product and I religiously do all those things and then I see him and he looks so amazing!
Does he return the compliment?
He’s a bit stricter about telling me I look lovely. He says it a lot less, but then I guess it means so much more than when I say it all the time.
How does your relationship with Matthew compare with Carrie and Big’s?
Carrie has defied convention in her relationship with Big and they are a very modern couple — much more modern than I am. I can’t handle that kind of disappointment; I don’t like being thrown a bone every now and then. They have made choices about how they want to live their life. But in her desire to be the person she thinks she wants to be, she is denying this involuntary DNA about a big dress and a big wedding.
What’s next for you? Are there any plans for a movie sequel?
We haven’t discussed a sequel. I would be honoured to star in a play in London. It just hasn’t worked out scheduling wise, but I would love to. It’s sort of a destination point for an actor, isn’t it?
For more of this interview, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale June 2).
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