'We wouldn't all have been white': Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon on how the show would be different today

'I think it has a lot of the failings of the feminist movement in it'

Cynthia Nixon has spoken about how she believes certain aspects of Sex and the City would be different had the hit HBO show been made in the present day.

The actor, who became a household name for her starring role as Miranda Hobbes in the New York-based series, admitted the show failed on issues such as representation given that the four lead roles – Miranda, Samantha, Charlotte and Carrie – were white, privileged straight women.

While the show received acclaim in the Nineties for its frank portrayal of each character’s sex lives, it has since been analysed multiple times by critics who have found many other elements to be problematic.

“There was so much debate when [Sex and the City] came out about whether it was a feminist show or not, which I always thought was stupid — of course it's a feminist show,” Nixon told the website IndieWire.

“But I think it has a lot of the failings of the feminist movement in it. In that it's like white, moneyed ladies who are fighting for their empowerment. In a bit of a bubble.”

Asked about what she thought would change, Nixon responded: “Well, I certainly think we would not have all been white, God forbid.”

She continued: “One of the hardest things for me — it was at the time, too — is looking back and seeing how much of it centred around money, right? And how, Steve, my [character's] husband, was like the closest we got to a working class guy, you know? Never mind a working class woman, right?”

She also suggested there was a pressure for “perfection” with regards to how the four leads needed to look in everyday life.

“I think we wouldn't all look like that,” she said. “In terms of like, the perfection factor. In terms of always looking so incredible. And I know that's the fantasy element, and in terms of the show that was important.

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“But I think there's a lot of ways that people can be visually compelling without looking — quote unquote — perfect.”

Nixon was speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival, where she was promoting her latest film called Stray Dolls, which is about human trafficking.