EXCLUSIVE: Kim Cattrall was 'addicted' to playing raunchy Samantha in Sex and the City
SHE'S best known for playing raunchy Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, and Kim Cattrall has revealed it was a "exciting and addictive feeling" to be breaking "virgin territory" with the show.
Speaking at this year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, the 58-year-old said she felt like a "pioneer" playing the sexually liberated character.
Kim said: "There's something about Virgin territory, you feel like a pioneer and that's how I felt playing Samantha – I felt we were going to places that hadn't been done, especially on television.
"It was such an exciting, addictive feeling to have that you were starting to open up a part of every women's life – if she lives long enough – that has never been done."
The star added that her part in the hit show – which ran from 1998 to 2004 – gave her a "platform" to speak about women's issues.
She said: "I realised I had a platform of sorts, to speak to women about issues and I think that's because of Sex and the City, and the success of that series, and the character – who was just this juggernaut really, almost like a modern day Aphrodite."
Clearly proud of SATC's achievements, Kim believed the show had laid the path for subsequent female-based shows, including Lena Dunham's hit series Girls.
"With all these filmmakers coming, especially to cable network, you're getting stories of such a high quality and they're beautifully shot, edited, acted. The whole medium is in its golden age.
"I think it started with channels like HBO and shows like the Sopranos and Sex and the City and now Girls, that are carrying the baton for stories that i'm specifically interested in, which is for and about women," she explained.
The Golden Globe winner was at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival to promote her black comedy Sensitive Skin, which is based on a BBC series of the same name.
In the show, Kim stars as Davina – a woman of a certain age – and her long-time husband played by Don McKellar.
The couple have sold their comfortable family home and moved downtown to an ultra-modern condo, in a transitional neighbourhood, in a conscious effort to change their lives, keep relevant, and begin again, but things don't quite go to plan.
Speaking of the role, Kim said: "A lot of people associate me with being a fearless women, who's on the edge of expressing likes and dislikes – affirmatively or otherwise and I wanted to play somebody who didn't have that kind of accessibility – that confidence really.
Other notable speakers at this year's Jameson Dublin International Film Festival include Harry Potter star Alan Rickman, Cinderella director Kenneth Branagh and Gladiator star Russell Crow. The festival runs from March 19 – 29.
