Rosie O’Donnell had “the most fun” filming And Just Like That season 3 — but she wasn’t a diehard fan when the original show, Sex and the City, initially aired.
“I will say that as a lesbian woman, it didn’t speak to me in the way it spoke to all my straight friends,” O’Donnell, 63, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing Hulu’s Unleashing Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Children with Autism. “My straight friends could not stop talking about it. I was like, ‘What, Mr. Big? What outfit was she wearing? What do you mean she never wore that before?’”
She added, “People think I noticed ‘girl things’ like clothes and shoes and jewelry, and I don’t.”
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O’Donnell further explained her perspective by reminiscing on a separate experience with Law & Order: SVU staple Mariska Hargitay.
Rosie O’Donnell and Cynthia Nixon Spotted Filming ‘And Just Like That’
“I was at an event, and Mariska Hargitay was there, and she came over to me looking gorgeous,” O’Donnell recalled. “And she said, ‘Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed.’ I’m like, ‘Why are you embarrassed?’ She said, ‘Because I saw you last week … [and] I was wearing the same dress.’ I looked at her incredulously, and I said, ‘Mariska Hargitay, do you think I would remember what dress you wore to an opening two weeks ago? Are you outta your mind?’”
According to O’Donnell, Hargitay’s remark was “the weirdest thing” she’s heard.
“That’s when I realized I have like, you know, 0.002 percent of girl genes. I have no idea about what dress it is,” O’Donnell quipped. “And a lot of [Sex and the City] was about that, but I loved it, and I watched it. I loved the women’s performances and the friendships that they had. But, you know, it wasn’t, like, The L Word for me because I’m a big L, that’s why.”
Nicole Ari Parker Teases ‘Exciting Stuff’ for ‘And Just Like That’
O’Donnell announced via Instagram in May 2024 that she was joining the cast of And Just Like That season 3 as a character named Mary. AJLT, which airs on Max, is a revival of HBO’s SATC starring Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Kristin Davis, (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt) and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) in modern-day New York. The last remaining member of the iconic quartet, Kim Cattrell’s Samantha Jones, has only made a brief cameo in a singular season 2 episode.
Specific details about …And Just Like That season 3 and O’Donnell’s role have yet to be revealed.
“I had a blast doing it, and that’s all I can say,” she teased to Us. “Everything else you’re gonna have to watch.”
In addition to filming a cameo on And Just Like That, O’Donnell executive-produced the Hulu documentary special Unleashing Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Children with Autism.
Everything the ‘AJLT’ Cast and Crew Has Said About Kim Cattrall’s Cameo
“I mean, the whole thing is beautiful. It was a very emotional two weeks for me when I was there in their training facility, which is, like, a beautiful college campus,” she explained about the process of being paired with her dog Kuma, from Guide Dogs of America. “And, you know, for the first time in a long time since being famous, I was alone. I didn’t have an assistant or a publicist or a makeup artist. You know, you get used to traveling in packs when you have a team that helps you survive show business. There you were, just a mom and a family with a kid needing help, and you met other families in that same position. It was a very, very emotional thing, and that’s why I wanted to make the documentary.”
She continued, “I wanted to give other people the chance to experience all of that, and then to experience the amount of help that a service dog can bring your autistic child and your whole family.”
O’Donnell’s youngest child Clay, 12, is on the autism spectrum, which also inspired her frequent work with the Autism Speaks nonprofit.
And Just Like That season 3 premieres on Max Thursday, May 29, and new episodes drop weekly. Unleashing Hope, meanwhile, is now streaming on Hulu.
Us Weekly
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