Sarah Jessica Parker is opening up about the constant criticism she gets about her physical appearance, and the effect it’s had on her throughout her career.
Although SJP began acting as a young child, she became a household name when she landed the iconic role of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. The 1998 series lasted for six seasons, spawned two movies, and a current spinoff (And Just Like That…) on HBO.
Conversations around the show usually surrounded the women’s liberated views on sex and relationships, their impeccable and questionable fashion choices, and life in New York City.
But, for the series star, she remembers the darker discussions happening behind the scenes. In a recent sit-down with host Alex Cooper for the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, SJP opened up about the constant criticism she received about her physical appearance while filming Sex and the City, and how it got so bad, she was left “sobbing.”
“Discussions of my physical person [were the hardest],” SJP said. “Like, stuff that I couldn’t change and wouldn’t change and had never considered changing, or still even after hearing something that was like, ‘What? Somebody would say that?’ — even still, no interest in changing it.”
“Also, I didn’t feel like it was actually a conversation,” she continued. “I didn’t feel like I could sit in a room and someone would say to me, ‘You’re really unattractive,’ and then I could say, ‘Wow. Well, first of all, that’s hard to hear. But second of all, why do you seem angry about it, or why do you feel it’s necessary to comment?’”
But there’s one incident that hasn’t been able to escape her mind. SJP said a magazine published extremely negative comments about her looks. And to make it worse, she was going through a season of similar comments being thrown her way nonstop.
“It was brought to my attention that a magazine said something really mean about who I am, how I look,” she continued. “And it was like a kick in the rubber parts. I was just like, ‘Why is this a problem? … Why do you seem to delight in saying it?’ And I called two of my friends…and I was sobbing because it felt so purposeful.”
“That’s the only time I really cried about it. I think it was just an accumulation of maybe a season of that kind of commentary.”
This is a friendly reminder that every thought that passes through your mind, especially negative or harmful ones, don’t always need to be voiced publicly. People forget that celebrities are human with feelings and boundaries, just like the rest of us, yet, because of their fame, it’s almost like some people believe they’re not owed the same respect.