Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Hudson as Louise in Sex and the City: The Movie Courtesy of New Line Cinema

Whose idea was it to cast Jennifer Hudson?
Michael Patrick King. I had wanted him to include an African-American [character on the show] for a long time, because I recognized that African-American women would legitimately say, "Why aren't there enough women of color [on the show]?" And I would say, "I agree. It hasn't really reflected New York." And Michael was always [insisting} that you can't do token [parts]; you can't just throw someone in there because it's necessary. You have to find something real or it's even worse than not getting somebody. So he wrote this part, and he said he wanted Jennifer Hudson. And I was like, "Sure, get in line! Everyone wants Jennifer Hudson." And then she came in and read, which I couldn't believe. And she was lovely. She's beautiful in person. She's gorgeous. She's probably six inches taller than me, easily. And she was so happy to be there and so enthusiastic and couldn't believe it.

The gay community has been devoted to the series from the beginning. Why do you think gay men love the women on the show?
Jeez. I don't know. Because I'm from New York and because I was raised in the theater, the gay community [has] always [been important] to me. And so to me, it wasn't so shocking to me that they were some of the first, most committed audience. It's very hard for me to describe, because it's as fervent as a lot of the women in my life who really like the show. And I think actually it's less about the salty dialogue and the candid, forthright chat. I really think — and this has been said time and time again and I'm not going to say it any better or be more articulate — your relationship with your gay friends is like your relationship with your straight women friends. It is that intense and they care about friendships in the same way. They talk about stuff; they share. This has been my relationship with my gay friends. And of course the majority of my friends are gay men. And it's extremely comforting. They always make you feel good. They always make you, at your worst moments, feel like a lady, feel like a girl. They are never afraid to be honest. And I think they love the ridiculousness and the absurd and the dirty. And the costumes. But if there wasn't an emotional connection to those friendships, I think that the gay community could grow weary too and move on quickly.

Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City: The Movie Courtesy of New Line Cinema

Since the end of the series, you've become an entrepreneur with your fashion line, Bitten, and your own fragrances, "Lovely" and "Covet." And your son has grown up, too. Did all that make you feel more distant from Carrie and did it make going back to being Carrie a little bit harder?
My husband [Matthew Broderick] recently said you can leave a show on Broadway for a year and come back and think, "I'll never know the lines again!" But it's like muscle memory, and it's a bad cliché but it's like riding a bike. It sounds so simple to say that, but we played these parts for a long time and we didn't have any rehearsal and there was one table read [for the movie]. That was it. Our schedule was so concentrated and crunched and completely un-doable on paper. The first week you're nauseous. You feel like you've done everything badly and fallen short of the mark constantly. But I felt like that at the top of every season. So I [rationalized that] this was par for the course. You've just got to rely on the writing.

How does the term fashion icon sit with you? How do you live with that on a day-to-day basis?
I don't. It's really not something I spend a lot of time [contemplating]. I think that's in large part due to the show and [costume designer Patricia Field]. I begged her to do the show. I begged her to do the movie. She was booked on nine other jobs. It's really not something that I would feel comfortable commenting on because I think it seems kind of odd. I think it was really born of the character in a lot of ways, and I learned a lot from Pat and I'm still learning from Pat. And so it's really not the essence of who I am. I don't think about it. As a working mother, the last thing on my mind when I'm trying to get my kid out of the door in the morning to get him to school on time is how I look.