“I didn’t really think I was going to do it – I was very reluctant,” she was quoted as saying. “But the more I talked to Sarah Jessica, [writer-creator] Michael Patrick King, and Kristin [Davis], about the things I couldn’t go back without — a real sea change in terms of the lack of diversity in the original series, they were on board.”
It turns out that while Nixon said that he was “very proud of the original series” he also found it to have a “deaf tone at times on race and gender”.
But she was convinced to return after seeing changes in the story, including the opportunity to add new characters and focus on the lives of women in their 50s—something that’s not common in television.
“The characters are 55 so they’re in menopause. And menopause is the punchline of a lot of jokes and of course there are unpleasant aspects to it,” Nixon said. “But this is a time when women who spend decades caring for others can focus on themselves again: Who am I? Who do I want to be?”