Darren Star, creator of Sex and the City and many other hit shows, recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly that his initial pick for the role of Carrie Bradshaw’s main squeeze, Mr. Big, was none other than Alec Baldwin.
“I was thinking of Alec Baldwin for Big initially [in Sex and the City],” Star shared. “I don’t really watch Law & Order, but I met with Chris Noth and thought he was perfect. I remember the first table read, how good he was. I’m not saying that Chris was Mr. Big, but he brought a lot of his own persona to the role ….”
In later seasons, John Corbett was cast as Bradshaw’s uber loving, handyman boyfriend, Aidan Shaw. But, before settling on the actor, production was courting Aidan Quinn.
“We initially were thinking about Aidan Quinn for Aidan, but I think he wasn’t available,” Star said. “I loved John Corbett in Northern Exposure, and we were like, ‘Well, what’s John Corbett been up to? He just had the laconic, dude-ish vibe. But we kept ‘Aidan’ because we loved the name.”
The HBO series premiered in 1998 and ended in 2004. The first Sex and the City movie was released in 2008 and was followed by a sequel in 2010.
