Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon) almost had an entirely different love story in HBO Max’s “And Just Like That.” The “Sex and the City” revival series was originally supposed to feature Miranda falling for her professor, Nya Wallace (Karen Pittman), but Nixon scrapped the idea to showrunner and executive producer Michael Patrick King. “Originally, when Michael was sort of trying to think about what would happen in our season, he talked about Nya, Miranda’s professor, being the romantic relationship,” Nixon said in the “And Just Like That” documentary (via Insider), released February 3. “Nya was a straight character and Miranda’s a straight character and I was like, ‘That doesn’t sound very sexy at all.’” Nixon explained that she was turned off by the idea of two middle-aged women “fumbling around” to discover their sexualities at the same time. Instead, Nixon wanted Miranda to embark on a new romance with a “butch person.”
Nixon also revealed that she was originally “very reluctant” to reprise her role as Miranda, specifically due to the lack of diversity in the original series, as Nixon told the News Corp’s Herald Sun. “[But] I was floored by how hard everybody listened and how collaboratively we worked together to not just redecorate the house but to build a whole new house, one that had us in it but new characters, too,” Nixon added. Enter nonbinary standup comedian, podcast host, and certified player Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), whom Miranda immediately senses sparks with…even while still married to Steve (David Eigenberg). Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Yet the character Che has sparked controversy online, with both fans and critics calling into question their intentions. “Che isn’t here to be liked, Che isn’t here for anyone’s approval,” Ramirez responded. “Che is not here to represent the entire LGBTQ+ community or a spectrum of Spanish-speaking people or Latin-identified people or Hispanic-identified people. They’re here to just be themselves.” Ramirez added in an interview with the New York Times that Che “knows they’re a narcissist” but acts as a reminder that “no one’s perfect.” And Ramirez, who admitted they don’t “recognize” themselves in Che, even donned a “Team Steve” pin during production, showing their support for Miranda’s ex, as Nixon tweeted. So, are we Team Che after all?
