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CNN Larry King Live

Interview With Actress Sarah Jessica Parker

Aired February 25, 2004 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight: She's here, Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City" for the hour with your phone calls -- Sarah Jessica Parker, hot, here and talking to me next on LARRY KING LIVE.
I've been a great admirer of Sarah Jessica Parker for a long time, and finally, she's on LARRY KING LIVE. Her husband's been on LARRY KING LIVE. Finally you made it.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: Thank you very much.

KING: This is the crest of your career!

(LAUGHTER)

KING: You made it tonight.

PARKER: This is it. This is it. It doesn't get better than this.

KING: Even your husband wants it TiVo'd. He wants to watch it, right?

PARKER: He did. He made a special phone call to make certain that, in fact, it had been TiVo'd.

KING: Before we ask about anything else, why three names?

PARKER: Well, I'm one of eight children, so perhaps it was a way of identifying me among the masses that were in and out of our house when I was a young person.

KING: So used to say Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Sarah Jessica was used when there was trouble was a- brewing. You know, it was intended by my parents -- I think my mother tended to use it more -- isn't -- don't the French have a "vous" and it's -- you know, there's formalities...

KING: Yes, that's right.

PARKER: ... and not. And I think it was more used in that fashion. And then when I became an older person at the -- you know, the ripe old age of 8 and I became a working actor, I think that that's just what my name was, and so it became the way people referred to me. KING: We'll discuss the history of "Sex and the City," but let's get back to the final episode, which was the highest-rated ever, which went through the roof. First, did you shoot three different endings?

PARKER: We did. But what's odd about it is the scene that we shot the three endings where we might have shown the audience various scenarios was cut from the final episode. So there's not a point in time that any viewer could look at the final episode and say, Oh, that's the ending they chose. There was a coffee shop scene that we -- when we were actually editing the final episode, we realized was unnecessary and so we didn't use it.

But in that coffee shop scene, Carrie has come back from Paris and she says to her three women friends, she says -- and so, you know, Big is coming back from Napa and we're going to make this, you know, real attempt at an adult relationship. And then the next scene was, So Petrovsky (ph) is flying in on Friday, and I think I would like you ladies to be my -- you know, part of my wedding party. And there's great tears of joy and some mixed emotions from some different, you know, characters. And then the final scenario was, So it's just me and the city, gals, back at home a single lady.

KING: Who decided it would be Big?

PARKER: Well, always knew. Michael Patrick and I always knew.

KING: Always knew it.

PARKER: Yes.

KING: Oh, so the two of you...

PARKER: We knew -- I knew the day that we shot the three endings what the coffee shop scene that they would ultimately use was going to be. What I didn't know was the final page and those last 30 seconds, when Big's name is revealed. And I didn't know that until the day we shot it and the cameras were rolling. And I had asked -- I said, If, in fact, I don't need to know whatever this last page is -- and I thought it was a tableau, rather than any dialogue -- the way the schedule worked out, it was fine that I didn't know. And so they rolled the cameras...

KING: You're executive...

PARKER: ... and they showed me the script.

KING: You're executive producer. Shouldn't you have known?

PARKER: Well, I trust Michael Patrick King so implicitly, in terms of story, and in fact, in basically every way, that I knew -- when I told him that I was choosing not to read the last page and I saw the look in his eyes, he said, What made you think about -- why did you choose not to? And I said, I just simply don't think I can bear it. And he said, You don't have to, and you shouldn't. So don't look at the last page until the day we shoot it.

KING: That's great.

PARKER: And it was so thrilling!

KING: And in that view, let's watch a clip from that episode. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: How did you even get here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took me a really long time to get here. But I'm here. Carrie, you're the one.

PARKER: Kiss me, you big crybaby!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: HBO, by the way, is a premium channel. That means you pay extra to get it. So it's not in all the same amount of homes as CNN or ESPN. Yet it drew 10.6 million viewers, highest in its series. It finished second all of Sunday night, which is incredible because it didn't have the same chance to reach...

PARKER: Yes.

KING: ... the shows that other -- you must have flipped for that.

PARKER: Well, yes, I was really -- I was really thrilled. I was very pleased. And I think the most gratifying part of it is that I just think the viewers seem to be -- the few that I've met in the last couple days, they just seem to be happy with the choices we've made. And that of a great concern to me that we did right by them. You know, they -- like you just mentioned, they pay to have us in their homes, and people work really hard for that money. And so I feel that they have been an enormous part of this show and any success that we've experienced. And so I was -- I wanted very much for them to feel that we didn't bail, that we did right by them and that we honored the characters that we had been playing and illustrating for so long.

KING: Are you glad it was Big, personally, just as an observer?

PARKER: Oh!

KING: Are you glad it was...

PARKER: As an audience member?

KING: Yes.

PARKER: Yes! Yes!

KING: Although Baryshnikov's a tough guy to come on.

PARKER: Oh, listen, Baryshnikov... KING: He's an amazing guy.

PARKER: ... was like a fantasy. It was, like, I'm not even certain it really happened. It was extraordinary in every possible way. It was a great gift and a unique privilege to have him in our company. But I think in terms of story and as an audience, I think that Baryshnikov's part was specifically to heighten -- heighten the drama between Carrie and Big, whether or not Big was there, but it -- he was intended to look at Big differently, and he did the job well.

KING: Did you cast the show? Did you cast the other three girls?

PARKER: No, I was last among the cast.

KING: You mean, the show was conceived without you?

PARKER: The show was -- the show -- well, Darren (ph) -- Darren -- according to Darren, he said he wrote the show with me in his head as he was typing. Once he bought the book from Candace (ph), Candace Bushnell, who wrote these columns and put them into book form -- once he had -- he had ownership of the book, he said that as he was writing that he thought -- he would hear my voice saying the lines. And so when he went to my agent, he said, you know, I've written this pilot with your client in mind. But he didn't come to me until he had cast some other people, and I think Cynthia had been cast and Kristin Davis had been cast, and I think they were speaking to Kim Cattrall at the time to play Samantha. And I had great reservations. I had a lot of concerns about working in series television because I -- I was concerned...

KING: You'd worked in it before.

PARKER: I had, but I hadn't for about 10 or 12 years, and I had been working in movies and working in theater and living in New York, and I was concerned about the time constraint and about the idea of television making you so identifiably one person and that it wouldn't give me opportunities to do movies and to work in the theater and have options.

KING: By the way...

PARKER: But I never looked back...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Was that prophetic a little? Do you think that people see you as Miss Bradshaw?

PARKER: No. I mean, I -- I don't think so. I mean, clearly, she's somebody that people have responded to, and that's what we desperately want, is the audience to feel some affinity and some affection for my character and all of our characters. But just since I've stopped working and I see the opportunities that are coming my way...

KING: Oh, there are many already?

PARKER: Actually -- well, you know -- yes. Yes.

KING: That's great.

PARKER: None of them are Carrie Bradshaw, and that was -- you know, that's something I've thought about because I've always just really thought of myself as a journeyman, and then this extraordinary thing happened that changed the tone of my career.

KING: Why did that show, with all of its open sex, open discussions, you would think, Is that going to work? Why'd it work?

PARKER: You know, I was always reluctant to ponder this in the past because I felt that somehow it was unattractive for me to speculate on any of the success, you know, that, it's...

KING: Now that it's over...

PARKER: It's for someone else to do. But since, you know, you're Larry King, I'd be crazy not to ponder it with you.

KING: Ponder.

PARKER: I just -- I think it's -- it's -- I think it's really, truly -- and this isn't -- I really think it's about good story telling. I think it's the reason people read a book and pass it on to a friend -- whether you're male or female, the way that literature can bring you -- and I think the writers have just skillfully created stories and characters that people relate to for a number of reasons. One being that, yes, in the beginning, the dialogue was candid and it was forthright, and I think women's voices hadn't been presented in this way. And we were on a station where women could speak frankly and the dialogue could be colorful and the situations and circumstances could be provocative. But I always said -- and it was important to me as producer of the show that -- that we not focus too much on the provocative nature of the show, that that is an important, titillating, colorful part of it, but that the show needs to have a soul, that it needs to connect with people viscerally and they need to have strong feelings for or against people's choices.

KING: So it's in the writing.

PARKER: Yes. That was way too long an answer. I'm sorry.

KING: No, it's in the writing.

PARKER: It's in the writing.

KING: No, it was a perfect answer.

Sarah Jessica Parker is our guest. As we go to break, Sarah and Mikhail.

PARKER: Oh!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: I had a life in New York. I had a job and friends, and I didn't give all of that up to come here and wander the streets of Paris alone!

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV. OK. I'm taking a shower and I'm going to bed, and we'll talk more as soon as you calm down.

PARKER: No, no, no, no! No, not as soon as...

BARYSHNIKOV: Please, Carrie! It was an accident. I didn't mean to.

PARKER: No, it's -- it's -- oh (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Oh!

BARYSHNIKOV: I'm so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: Stop! Slow down! You're going to have a heart attack. I mean it, I took care of this myself. I don't need you to rescue me!

CHRIS NOTH: Listen, I'm clocking this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and there's nothing you can do to stop me!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Great guy, Chris Noth.

PARKER: Oh, he's wonderful!

KING: We're back with Sarah Jessica Parker. How long were you in Paris?

PARKER: We shot there for two weeks.

KING: Fun?

PARKER: It was -- it was extraordinary. It was fantastic. We were...

KING: What hotel was that?

PARKER: That was the Plaza Athene (ph).

KING: Oh, beautiful.

PARKER: And we shot, as you saw, all the interiors there and some of the exteriors -- well, most -- all the exteriors and some of the interiors. But we had a really wonderful time in Paris, and a few of our crew members came who had never been before, and it was just -- it was really magical time. It was cold and rainy and poetic and beautiful, and the right ending happened.

KING: Big story your show was New York, wasn't it?

PARKER: It was...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Did you have to have a lot of cooperation, or did you just film in the streets?

PARKER: The city was amazing. It was uniquely easy collaboration, I think. When we first started shooting in the city in '97, there weren't an enormous amount of shows shooting, "Law and Order" and all of Dick Wolf's (ph) shows, and weren't as many then were there. And "Sopranos" wasn't shooting yet. And "Oz" existed, but it was on a sound stage.

So we were fairly -- we felt rather autonomous in the city because we were shooting it in a way that the city hadn't been shot, you know, sparkly and pretty and -- the city was so helpful and really made -- I mean, the city was always an integral part, and I have called it "the fifth lady" for a long time because this particular city at that particular time is the story we were telling. It couldn't have been shot in Detroit at that time. This was the story we were telling. Ask I think people in New York really felt -- they became very proprietary about the show and really made it easy for us.

KING: Why did it end?

PARKER: Oh, it's such -- it's so complicated. Well, I felt and Michael Patrick felt that -- that we were about to have to tell different stories and that he could see -- he could sort of telescope ahead about a year-and-a-half, and he knew the stories he wanted to tell. And I agreed with him, and I felt the same way. And it was unbeknownst to either of us that we were both starting to think this way.

KING: What stories didn't you want to show?

PARKER: Well, we think we -- I think that if the show had gone on for another year, we would have to -- the show would have to really take a sharp left or right turn, whatever is most aggressive to you, and we would have to look at life differently. And I think those are really vital and important stories, and I think that there is a great audience for that next chapter, but we didn't want to tell those yet. I wasn't ready to tell them and Michael Patrick wasn't ready. And HBO -- we talked a lot about it with HBO, and they agreed. And around that -- then -- well, actually, about a year later, we started talking about the idea of this for the cinema.

KING: Is that mean -- so will there be a movie?

PARKER: I think that's what we -- what we have our eyes on.

KING: Certainly has the makings of a movie.

PARKER: I think Michael Patrick has cleverly left the door nicely open...

KING: Sure.

PARKER: ... for a -- you know, a two-hour film, and I'm certainly wanting to see what he does.

KING: Feature movie for movie theaters.

PARKER: Feature, for theatrical release, yes.

KING: There's a paperback out this week called "Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell," summarizing all six seasons. Have you seen it?

PARKER: Yes, I worked very hard on it. It was released...

KING: Oh, you're a part of it?

PARKER: ... in hardcover last year, and this is just released in -- you know, cleverly timed for the final episode. This is the paperback version. It's quite a nice book because it's -- just has a lot of information that's not been available before and wonderful, silly, whimsical looks at the show. And this is a book for people who have spent...

KING: Fans.

PARKER: ... a lot of time with us for the last few years.

KING: And the DVDs are coming out, right, the...

PARKER: Yes. We're making everything available!

KING: Look back on your single days.

PARKER: Look back on mine?

KING: Yes. Did you talk that way to your friends?

PARKER: No, I didn't. No, I...

KING: So was this true?

PARKER: This is -- this is authentic. This is the way a large number of women talk about the intimate details of their life. I was never somebody that could share those details in that kind of candid conversation. It just wasn't my style. I -- you know, I don't choose to use, you know, bad language. It's just...

KING: All right. Did you know people like that?

PARKER: Yes!

KING: You did?

PARKER: Absolutely. And listen, my...

KING: Like, all three of them and...

PARKER: ... moral compass isn't somebody else's...

KING: ... all four of them, then, you knew.

PARKER: I've known -- listen, I've known various -- I've known versions of Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. But I've also been in a room with my friends when they've felt really comfortable and talked about their husbands or boyfriends, various states, good and bad, and some intimate things. And inevitably, the conversation -- somebody will look at me and say, I forgot you were here. I forgot, you know, you don't want to hear this...

(LAUGHTER)

PARKER: ... because it's always -- it's always embarrassing for me.

KING: Were any of the shows very tough for you to do, then? Or you're...

PARKER: No, you know...

KING: ... an actress and an actress does their thing.

PARKER: Yes. I'm playing somebody who is not meant to cringe when Samantha says something hilarious and filthy. And I can see the humor. I don't think the show was ever gratuitous. I don't think it was vulgar. I think it was -- I think it was funny. And I think that both Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall have done such a good job of being comfortable playing these parts. And you know, people talk about ownership of, you know, your -- your being a woman, and I think they've done it really, really well because they tend to have the more salty and ribald...

KING: Yes.

PARKER: ... you know, conversations. But you know, I enjoy being privy to it. I'm just not able to engage in it myself.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Our guest -- which makes it good for Matthew.

PARKER: Well...

KING: Our guest is Sarah Jessica Parker, star and executive producer of the Emmy-winning HBO series "Sex and the City." And she just won her fourth Golden Globe, right?

PARKER: Yes, sir.

KING: You get to be old hat, or is it still a thrill?

PARKER: No. No. There's not a moment that I'm cavalier. No, because every year, you don't -- you -- I'm convinced it's somebody else and that it should be other people and people are doing great work. So I had all sorts of notions this year that it should be Deborah Messinger (ph), Bonnie Hunt or -- jeez, there's -- I mean, there's an enormous amount of talented people, so...

KING: Yes. Back with more of Sarah Jessica Parker. At the bottom of the hour, we'll be taking your phone calls.

Tomorrow night, we'll have our Democratic debate. I'll be the moderator and the host. We'll have reporters from "The L.A. Times." It'll be at the University of Southern California. It's co-sponsored by "The LA Times" and CNN. It's at 9:00 o'clock Eastern for 90 minutes.

And Friday night, the new hot star in television, Donald Trump. Who'd have thought it? We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: Oh. Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Hey. Why the tears?

PARKER: Paris is a mess! And I never should have come here!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I forgot to tell you something on the phone. I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You flew back to tell me that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you think of a better reason?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I can't. You have meant more to me than any man I've ever known!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Let's discuss the other people. Kim Cattrall really rose to new heights in this, didn't she?

PARKER: Yes, she's fantastic.

KING: You like working with her?

PARKER: It's great, all of them. It's just been amazing. And they've all been...

KING: Is she anything -- she was here a couple weeks ago. Is she anything like Samantha? PARKER: No!

(LAUGHTER)

PARKER: I don't think anybody is really like Samantha. No, she's done an amazing job of making that character, you know, funny and sexy and...

KING: And sympathetic.

PARKER: ... bawdy and sympathetic and...

KING: What about Kristin and Charlotte?

PARKER: Just lovely, you know, dear and has had wonderful story lines this year and has done such -- has done such beautiful work this year and been so funny and tragic and moving and has a wonderful husband, Harry, played by Evan Handler.

KING: Yes.

PARKER: And Cynthia Nixon, you know, salt of the earth.

KING: What about her?

PARKER: I've known her for over 20 years. We worked together over 20 years ago when we were young -- young girls. And she's just...

KING: In theater?

PARKER: We actually worked together in a movie of the week. We played Vanessa Redgrave's daughters.

KING: Really?

PARKER: Yes. And Jack Albertson (ph) played our grandfather...

KING: Oh, the late Jack...

PARKER: ... and Joe Campanela played our father. And we were -- I think I had just left "Annie." I was 14 years old and she was just 13, and she was taller and she played my older sister. And I've been a great admirer of Cynthia's for many, many years.

KING: Did all of the characters have input into the script? By that, could they say, I'm not comfortable with this line?

PARKER: Oh, yes. I think that if people felt that there were things they just didn't feel comfortable doing -- it was very boutique style. It wasn't at all...

KING: No?

PARKER: No, it was very -- I think everybody has felt comfortable for the last six years talking about if something felt odd or uncomfortable. But for the most part, I think people were fairly game. I think, you know, you might lie in bed at night and think, Can I -- you know, I've talked to Kristin about a couple things. But Michael Patrick King is a fairly persuasive fellow and he's great at the pitch.

KING: Isn't it odd that a man wrote those scripts? And like...

PARKER: Yes and no.

KING: ... gay people love that show, right? Didn't they?

PARKER: Yes, it has -- I think it has a...

KING: The gay community loved it.

PARKER: ... fairly big gay audience...

KING: Yes.

PARKER: ... you know, which is a -- you know, a huge part of our popular culture has been -- has been the gay audience, so it's been wonderful. But I think the show -- you know, it's written -- our head writer is a -- is a -- is a man, but we have -- the rest of the writers on the staff are single woman. And so I think -- it doesn't surprise me because it's Michael Patrick and I know him so well and he is so -- Michael Patrick feels things very deeply and he's very, very smart and he's funny and he is just a good writer who is a great observer -- great observer of -- of -- of life and nuances...

KING: But he understands women.

PARKER: And he -- well, he has a lot -- he has a couple of sisters and he has a mother who is very funny and he's had great female influences in his life. But he also is simply a good writer. And then he has -- is surrounded by five -- can you hear my stomach? I'm so sorry! My stomach is growling, Larry. You didn't feed me.

KING: We didn't feed you?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: We didn't bring any food in?

PARKER: I'm kidding! Anyway, he's surrounded by really talented women who are single and have a lot of stories to tell and share.

KING: Do you have any thoughts on the gay marriage issue?

PARKER: Oh, jeez! You know, I feel like people in this country who feel really strongly about a man and a woman being the only -- the sole sort of gatekeeper of marriage should also support people staying together. I mean, a lot of heterosexual couples don't stay together, and I think that's as upsetting as two people who are really committed and loving and have been monogamous for many years wanting to...

KING: Be married. PARKER: ... be married and have -- share some of the same rights that this country is so uniquely qualified to give people.

KING: We will take a break, come back, and go to your phone calls for Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City." Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a girl? Honey, it's a girl!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always wanted a girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We weren't going to ask because I didn't want to know nothing about it, but then I was there and they asked me if I wanted to know, and I said yes. Ever since then, I've been thinking about little girl names. I like Tiffany and Brittany. Wayne says I like any name with a "ny" on the end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not getting the baby, are we.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We changed our minds!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carrie, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn't I tell you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heidi, go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, she's fashion roadkill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Funny episode. We're going to start including your phone calls. One thing about -- you dated John F. Kennedy Jr. once. A few times? Great guy.

PARKER: He was, he was a testament to his parents. He was just a lovely, decent, honorable, special, regular, loved New York.

KING: Why didn't Matthew Broderick ever appear in an episode of "Sex and the City?"

PARKER: He never accepted an offer. This is what Matthew wanted to play the whole time. He wanted to play a janitor in one of the, you know, finer buildings in Manhattan.

KING: Why?

PARKER: I don't know. We should probably speak to him about that. KING: Or his analyst.

PARKER: Or his analyst. I don't know, it just never worked out.

KING: The opening night of "The Producers" with Matthew and Nathan Lane, most electric night ever in New York. Unbelievable.

PARKER: It reminded me of what I used to -- what I read Broadway used to be like in the '40s. Just tremendous anticipation and the glamour and...

KING: And the show equaled the anticipation.

PARKER: Oh, it was, I think it was the most special night, you know with the exception of the birth of my son and my wedding, but, yes.

KING: Speaking of your son. "People" magazine has a big spread on it and there is a little picture of baby James. James Wilkey (ph) right there in the corner.

PARKER: Sweet baby James.

KING: And he also made the "Bazaar" thing with the fashion. Did you ever think any of this would happen to you?

PARKER: I most certainly did not, I assure you. No one in my family did, I'm sure.

KING: How did you like working with Nicholas Cage?

PARKER: Loved him. Loved him. He's a fantastic actor.

KING: Columbus, Ohio, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi. Lazarus. Home of Lazarus Department Store.

KING: What's the question?

CALLER: First, I want to thank you for giving this mother of two toddlers a great place to escape to with that great show of yours.

PARKER: Thank you for watching and giving us a half hour of your time every week. Thank you very much.

CALLER: Being a stay-at-home mom, my question for you is, what is your favorite time of the day with your son?

PARKER: Oh, well, I am particularly fond of being up with him in the morning and he's, he's just, he's just started to walk about a month and a half ago and I like to, I like to be in the house with him. My husband takes him out and they go to the park and he enjoys being outside in this really terrifically cold weather in New York right now. But I like being with him in the morning and cleaning up the kitchen with him. He had a nightmare last night so he came into our bedroom. He's really kind of attached to his crib.

KING: Really?

PARKER: Yes and he has a routine that he responds really really well to. I'm happy to not disturb it but every now and then when he cries sometimes louder than normal in the rooms adjoining his so that he might wake up because I miss him and it's all right if he has a bad dream or if he needs company.

KING: Dallas, Texas, hello.

CALLER: Hi. I just want to know, Sarah, how do you feel about being the most inspirational role model for single women everywhere.

KING: How does that make you feel?

PARKER: Until this moment, I've never been told that, but, you know, I'm very -- I feel extremely lucky that I was part of something that women connected to, that you might call from some place so far away, from a city that we made this show. Where you live is a very different place and the fact that you relate and connect and it may be perhaps changes the way you feel about yourself, that is a great honor for me. And I really mean that, I'm so, I guess I just feel very honored and flattered that you feel a connection to us.

KING: Your life has completely changed, hasn't it?

PARKER: My life is different than it was.

KING: Olympia, Washington, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry, hi, Sarah Jessica. First of all I just want to say that the last episode was excellent. And my question is, what is your favorite storyline or episode over the last six years?

PARKER: Oh, geez. This is very hard for me to pick favorites, but I seem -- if this show -- if I was forced to just sort of picture postcards, I like -- any time I get to walk down the street with one of the ladies. We call them walk and talks and it's short-hand way of describing a scene in a day and I just love them. They're funny, we tend to make mistakes. We're outside in the street in this enormously exciting city and the people are so much a part of the scene than just the regular civilians that live in New York and I love that.

But I also really love the Carrie/Big storyline. I just, I just love it. I'm a romantic and I always like the books and literature where there was great struggle for two people to find one another that people triumphed and I feel like Carrie and Big triumphed on Sunday and so, you know, clearly I'm conflicted about my favorite part of the show.

KING: They were soul mates, right, her and Big, when you get down to it. No matter where they went, they came back.

PARKER: I feel like no matter where they went and no matter who they are and no matter what decisions they made, they need to keep trying. He has to be in her orbit.

KING: Atlanta, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: I have one quick comment and then a question.

PARKER: All right.

CALLER: First of all, my quick comment is one of my top five favorite guilty pleasure movies is "Footloose." Love it, love it! Never miss it when it's on. And my question is, you were smoking in the final episode, how hard was it to quit and have you started again?

PARKER: Fair question, fair question.

KING: You used to smoke. I know a nonsmoker and a smoker.

PARKER: Listen, this was compounded by being in Paris, a city where you're still allowed to smoke.

KING: Are you a smoker?

PARKER: You're basically encouraged to. I smoked when I was playing -- in the early years of Carrie and of course, when I had a baby I didn't and didn't smoke for two years until I went to Paris and, you know, this is the great seduction of a city like Paris with great architecture and food and wine and, so, it's been, it's not been the easiest thing. It was, I told Michael Patrick, I said, oh, please, don't -- must she smoke again? And, you know, like I said earlier, Michael Patrick writes great stories and it's hard once you read a story to not see his point. But it's not been the easiest thing to not to smoke since then.

KING: Have you smoked since?

PARKER: Since then, of free will, you mean, without being employed? Yes, but I'm generally not a smoker. I mean, I have a child, so it's changed everything, luckily.

KING: Does Matthew approve or disapprove?

PARKER: No he would not want anyone around him.

KING: You wouldn't smoke around matthew.

PARKER: Matthew doesn't want me to ever smoke.

KING: So you sneak smoke.

PARKER: I don't really. My lawyer has advised me not to answer this question. I wouldn't call myself a smoker. I would say I had to smoke for work and then I slipped, but I think I'm on the straight and narrow and I think Matthew would like me not to smoke. KING: How did you meet Matthew?

PARKER: I met Matthew through my brothers, Pippin and Toby, actually. Both Pippin and Toby and Matthew actually, all three, were founding members of a theater company in New York City called The Naked Angels and my brother and I were sharing an apartment in New York in '90, I think, yes, 1990 and they were going to the movies. Pippin was going to the movies. My brother Pippin and -- Pippin and Matthew have a mutual best friend Kenny Lonergan who's a great screen right, you can count on me. And at the last minute I joined them, and the movie was sold out and we had to find another source of entertainment and...

KING: Did you like him right away?

PARKER: I liked him very much right away. I think I liked him because he reminded me of the things that my mom talked about, about men when she used to read "The New Yorker." He was really smart and he's from this really wonderful family and he was raised in the west village in New York and he's the funniest person I've ever known, continues to be the funniest person I've ever known. And you know, he's got this really beautiful face and I just -- and we didn't date for quite a while. We didn't date for another few months, but I liked him immediately. He reminded me of memories I didn't have.

KING: Is he going to do "The Odd Couple" with (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

PARKER: I think they're trying to figure out how they -- they're doing the movie "The Producers" in the spring and I think perhaps after, I don't know.

KING: You know, one of the best acting jobs he did and a movie that didn't make it was, "The Cable Guy," as the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was great.

PARKER: You're a very generous man.

KING: The movie didn't make it, but he was sensational.

PARKER: Matthew Broderick always shines.

KING: We'll be back with more calls for Sarah Jessica -- I like weird things.

PARKER: No, I like that movie, too.

KING: We'll be back with more of Sarah Jessica Parker the star, executive producer of the Emmy winning HBO series "Sex and the City."

And they're going to make a movie. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATTRAL: Ladies -- seamen -- 12:00.

NIXON: I pray when I turn around there are sailors because with her, you never know.

PARKER: Oh, wow, we have just spotted our first sailors. Fleet week has begun.

Fleet week is that one week a year, when the U.S. naval ships dock, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is made even fairer with cute, sweet, American Sailors looking for fun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARKER: Shouldn't you be laying down or biting on a leather strap or something?

NIXON: I'm moving around trying to get my water to break. The doctor says it's better than having them break it for you.

PARKER: So, what can I do?

NIXON: When this gets going, don't let anyone get all cheer leader on me. I don't want any of that, you can do it, push, push.

PARKER: Thus, with a destroyed pair Christian Louboutin's began Miranda's delivery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Detroit for Sarah Jessica Parker.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: Just wanted to say a comment and a question to you. Absolutely love the show.

PARKER: Thank you.

CALLER: A big fan. The phone gets cut off there in the 30 minutes.

KING: What's the question?

CALLER: Did you get to keep all the Manolos?

KING: The shoes?

PARKER: I did.

KING: You did.

PARKER: I did.

KING: I mean have you become a Mel Delmarcos (ph). PARKER: Well, you know, it's one of the things, I don't know, for many years I've always had it in my contact that I keep the clothes and the shoes. I guess because I've always loved the clothes and shoes. So, I kept them. We give an enormous amount of them away to charities. Well, he was...

KING: Was he famous before?

PARKER: He was a great shoe designer. I think a lot of women in New York City and some of the bigger cities knew about him, but I would say that the show, that people all over the country now are familiar with a pair of Manolo Blahniks and probably can spot a Manola Blahnik heel from a great distance.

KING: Ottawa, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica. I'm a huge fan. I want to mention that you've been the most inspirational fashion icon of our time.

PARKER: Oh, my gosh.

CALLER: And with that being said, I just want to know how you made the connection with costume designer Patricia Field.

PARKER: Well, that's a great question, and thank you, it's extremely kind of you. I have had the pleasure of working with Pat Field in 1992, I did a movie called "Miami Rhapsody," that David Frankel wrote and directed, and he's a wonderful director. And it was a very different story and, clearly, a very different character and she did a wonderful job. But when we had gone to series in the pilot and we were changing designers, the producer who produced that movie and I were speaking about who might be right, and he reminded me of Pat. And he said, and it was like the greatest light bulb ever, it was so completely obvious that this was simply the only choice. And she came in it was really that point thus for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- not necessary, she came in and was the inspired and inspiring Pat Field.

KING: Long Beach, New York, hello.

CALLER: Oh, my god, hi, Sarah.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: Listen, my daughter wanted me to tell you that you are her fashion icon.

PARKER: Thank you.

CALLER: And also, I would like to know, now that the show is over, are you and the girls going to hang out and go to lunch and stuff?

KING: There's a New Yorker.

PARKER: That's a nice question and so hopeful.

KING: Are you friend?

PARKER: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if we see each other and spend time together socially. But, you know, the truth is Kristin Davis lives in Los Angeles and Cynthia has two children and I have a child and a husband and there's a huge long list of friends and family for all of us who have basically not seen us for the past six years. So, I suspect the first thing we're going to do is try to get back in the good graces of our friend and family who have written us off. And then I think it would be sad to not be together and spend time together and keep up with one another.

KING: Is HBO going to start reshowing the whole series on a regular basis?

PARKER: I think they intend -- I think the last episode will be aired, I think, tonight and maybe again and whoever that rotation is. And then, I think mid-April, I think, they're going to air the final 20 again. And I think then it's gone for a while and then it goes into syndication and it will be available to -- it was bought for syndication.

KING: Would have to edit some things out.

PARKER: TNT and -- gosh -- TNT and Tribune bought it.

KING: They'll edit some things out.

PARKER: It will be a different, not the exact same version because...

KING: And DVDs coming, too.

PARKER: And DVD's for the sixth season. A wider audience will be able to see it, which is exciting it me.

KING: You don't need to work anymore, Sarah.

PARKER: Well, I'll always have to work, it's who I am.

KING: We'll be back with our remaining moments and a phone calls.

PARKER: Our remaining moments?

KING: What do you want do two hours?

PARKER: It flew by, Larry.

KING: You love this, don't you. You love it.

PARKER: I do. I want to take more calls.

KING: We'll be back and take some more and we have a little surprise for you, too. And, don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Max, I want you to meet someone very special.

Julia.

PARKER: Actually, it's Carrie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrie, well, welcome.

NOTH: Carrie writes this fantastic column called "Sex and the City."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if you're looking for material, you're dating the right man.

CHRIS NOTH: Thanks you, Max. Thank you very much.

PARKER: Are we dating? I thought we were just sleeping together.

CHRIS NOTH: Well, I'm sure tonight we won't be doing much of either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PARKER (voice-over): After assessing what little assets I had, I realized I would have to change my lifestyle.

(on camera): Excuse me, can you tell me how much the bus is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $1.50.

PARKER: Really? Wow. Last time I took the bus it was like 75 cents. You know, for three more bucks you can take a cab. Oh, for crying out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you have to take the bus if you're on the bus?

PARKER: My thoughts exactly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Our little surprise is for James. I know you like this show. Two pairs. My kids wear them, your kid will wear them.

PARKER: Oh, Larry, thank you!

KING: Thank the staff, they came up with this idea.

PARKER: He's a lucky fellow. These are the first suspenders he has ever received. I just bought Matthew four new pairs for Christmas. KING: He wears them, too?

PARKER: Yes.

KING: Good.

PARKER: Of course he does.

KING: Washington, D.C., for Sarah Jessica Parker.

CALLER: Hello, Sarah Jessica. I just wanted to tell you that my girlfriends and I are in love with the show and we're all wondering how playing Carrie changed you.

PARKER: Oh, my gosh, I need another hour. First, I think it's changed the way that I look at my female friendships. I am incredibly envious of the time that Carrie gets to spend with her female friends and I'm very admiring of the kind of attention she pays and the kind of devoted friends they are to one another, so, perhaps, maybe a better friend.

But also I think it's given me a relationship with the city that I love and where I live that's been very, very special and it's allowed me great opportunities to meet interesting and diverse and exciting people and to, you know, get nice phone calls from, yes.

KING: Butler, Georgia, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: I want to say that I think you're fabulous and I adore you. And my question is, where do you see Carrie and Big in the next five years?

PARKER: Oh, wow.

KING: What happens to Carrie and Big? Do they get married?

PARKER: I don't know, I think they are going have to work very hard to be the people really are in each other's company. I think it's going to be a wonderfully challenging and exciting and thrilling and painful relationship, but I think they are going to stick it out. I think they're going to be adults about it.

KING: Does Samantha get better?

PARKER: Samantha is better, she is going to be fine.

KING: Because we all care about these people.

PARKER: Yes. Well, that's nice. And we should.

KING: And the adoption networks? PARKER: And the adoption, we hope, is going to work. I think we'll know more. We're assuming the child will arrive safely from China and Miranda will have a wonderful life and a challenging career as an attorney and Samantha will be well.

KING: You're a delight.

PARKER: Oh, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

KING: Sarah Jessica Parker, the star and executive producer of the Emmy winning HBO series, "Sex and the City." And she just won her fourth Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a TV Musical or Comedy series.

I'll come back in a couple minutes and tell you what's coming tomorrow night. Big night tomorrow night. Don't go away, we'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARKER: You felt really set, not to have a man in my life who cares about me. No special guy to wish me happy birthday. No goddamn soulmate. And I don't even know if I believe in soulmates.

DAVIS: Don't laugh at me, but maybe we can be eachother's soulmates. And then we could let men be just these great nice guys to have fun with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Tomorrow night I'm being bumped by myself...

(LAUGHTER)

KING: LARRY KING LIVE will be preempted for the CNN/Los Angeles Times Democratic presidential debate at the University of Southern California. I'll host that debate, so there will not be a LARRY KING LIVE, but there will be a 90 minute debate tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern.

Right now, standing by in New York. My man, a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker...

AARON BROWN, HOST "NEWSNIGHT": Yes, I am.

KING: ...and like Sarah, a Yankee fan as well, meaning, they're used to only having the best and put it on a silver plate in front of them.

Aaron Brown is next. Mr. B, the stage is yours.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 25, 2004 - 21:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight: She's here, Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City" for the hour with your phone calls -- Sarah Jessica Parker, hot, here and talking to me next on LARRY KING LIVE.
I've been a great admirer of Sarah Jessica Parker for a long time, and finally, she's on LARRY KING LIVE. Her husband's been on LARRY KING LIVE. Finally you made it.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: Thank you very much.

KING: This is the crest of your career!

(LAUGHTER)

KING: You made it tonight.

PARKER: This is it. This is it. It doesn't get better than this.

KING: Even your husband wants it TiVo'd. He wants to watch it, right?

PARKER: He did. He made a special phone call to make certain that, in fact, it had been TiVo'd.

KING: Before we ask about anything else, why three names?

PARKER: Well, I'm one of eight children, so perhaps it was a way of identifying me among the masses that were in and out of our house when I was a young person.

KING: So used to say Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Sarah Jessica was used when there was trouble was a- brewing. You know, it was intended by my parents -- I think my mother tended to use it more -- isn't -- don't the French have a "vous" and it's -- you know, there's formalities...

KING: Yes, that's right.

PARKER: ... and not. And I think it was more used in that fashion. And then when I became an older person at the -- you know, the ripe old age of 8 and I became a working actor, I think that that's just what my name was, and so it became the way people referred to me. KING: We'll discuss the history of "Sex and the City," but let's get back to the final episode, which was the highest-rated ever, which went through the roof. First, did you shoot three different endings?

PARKER: We did. But what's odd about it is the scene that we shot the three endings where we might have shown the audience various scenarios was cut from the final episode. So there's not a point in time that any viewer could look at the final episode and say, Oh, that's the ending they chose. There was a coffee shop scene that we -- when we were actually editing the final episode, we realized was unnecessary and so we didn't use it.

But in that coffee shop scene, Carrie has come back from Paris and she says to her three women friends, she says -- and so, you know, Big is coming back from Napa and we're going to make this, you know, real attempt at an adult relationship. And then the next scene was, So Petrovsky (ph) is flying in on Friday, and I think I would like you ladies to be my -- you know, part of my wedding party. And there's great tears of joy and some mixed emotions from some different, you know, characters. And then the final scenario was, So it's just me and the city, gals, back at home a single lady.

KING: Who decided it would be Big?

PARKER: Well, always knew. Michael Patrick and I always knew.

KING: Always knew it.

PARKER: Yes.

KING: Oh, so the two of you...

PARKER: We knew -- I knew the day that we shot the three endings what the coffee shop scene that they would ultimately use was going to be. What I didn't know was the final page and those last 30 seconds, when Big's name is revealed. And I didn't know that until the day we shot it and the cameras were rolling. And I had asked -- I said, If, in fact, I don't need to know whatever this last page is -- and I thought it was a tableau, rather than any dialogue -- the way the schedule worked out, it was fine that I didn't know. And so they rolled the cameras...

KING: You're executive...

PARKER: ... and they showed me the script.

KING: You're executive producer. Shouldn't you have known?

PARKER: Well, I trust Michael Patrick King so implicitly, in terms of story, and in fact, in basically every way, that I knew -- when I told him that I was choosing not to read the last page and I saw the look in his eyes, he said, What made you think about -- why did you choose not to? And I said, I just simply don't think I can bear it. And he said, You don't have to, and you shouldn't. So don't look at the last page until the day we shoot it.

KING: That's great.

PARKER: And it was so thrilling!

KING: And in that view, let's watch a clip from that episode. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: How did you even get here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took me a really long time to get here. But I'm here. Carrie, you're the one.

PARKER: Kiss me, you big crybaby!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: HBO, by the way, is a premium channel. That means you pay extra to get it. So it's not in all the same amount of homes as CNN or ESPN. Yet it drew 10.6 million viewers, highest in its series. It finished second all of Sunday night, which is incredible because it didn't have the same chance to reach...

PARKER: Yes.

KING: ... the shows that other -- you must have flipped for that.

PARKER: Well, yes, I was really -- I was really thrilled. I was very pleased. And I think the most gratifying part of it is that I just think the viewers seem to be -- the few that I've met in the last couple days, they just seem to be happy with the choices we've made. And that of a great concern to me that we did right by them. You know, they -- like you just mentioned, they pay to have us in their homes, and people work really hard for that money. And so I feel that they have been an enormous part of this show and any success that we've experienced. And so I was -- I wanted very much for them to feel that we didn't bail, that we did right by them and that we honored the characters that we had been playing and illustrating for so long.

KING: Are you glad it was Big, personally, just as an observer?

PARKER: Oh!

KING: Are you glad it was...

PARKER: As an audience member?

KING: Yes.

PARKER: Yes! Yes!

KING: Although Baryshnikov's a tough guy to come on.

PARKER: Oh, listen, Baryshnikov... KING: He's an amazing guy.

PARKER: ... was like a fantasy. It was, like, I'm not even certain it really happened. It was extraordinary in every possible way. It was a great gift and a unique privilege to have him in our company. But I think in terms of story and as an audience, I think that Baryshnikov's part was specifically to heighten -- heighten the drama between Carrie and Big, whether or not Big was there, but it -- he was intended to look at Big differently, and he did the job well.

KING: Did you cast the show? Did you cast the other three girls?

PARKER: No, I was last among the cast.

KING: You mean, the show was conceived without you?

PARKER: The show was -- the show -- well, Darren (ph) -- Darren -- according to Darren, he said he wrote the show with me in his head as he was typing. Once he bought the book from Candace (ph), Candace Bushnell, who wrote these columns and put them into book form -- once he had -- he had ownership of the book, he said that as he was writing that he thought -- he would hear my voice saying the lines. And so when he went to my agent, he said, you know, I've written this pilot with your client in mind. But he didn't come to me until he had cast some other people, and I think Cynthia had been cast and Kristin Davis had been cast, and I think they were speaking to Kim Cattrall at the time to play Samantha. And I had great reservations. I had a lot of concerns about working in series television because I -- I was concerned...

KING: You'd worked in it before.

PARKER: I had, but I hadn't for about 10 or 12 years, and I had been working in movies and working in theater and living in New York, and I was concerned about the time constraint and about the idea of television making you so identifiably one person and that it wouldn't give me opportunities to do movies and to work in the theater and have options.

KING: By the way...

PARKER: But I never looked back...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Was that prophetic a little? Do you think that people see you as Miss Bradshaw?

PARKER: No. I mean, I -- I don't think so. I mean, clearly, she's somebody that people have responded to, and that's what we desperately want, is the audience to feel some affinity and some affection for my character and all of our characters. But just since I've stopped working and I see the opportunities that are coming my way...

KING: Oh, there are many already?

PARKER: Actually -- well, you know -- yes. Yes.

KING: That's great.

PARKER: None of them are Carrie Bradshaw, and that was -- you know, that's something I've thought about because I've always just really thought of myself as a journeyman, and then this extraordinary thing happened that changed the tone of my career.

KING: Why did that show, with all of its open sex, open discussions, you would think, Is that going to work? Why'd it work?

PARKER: You know, I was always reluctant to ponder this in the past because I felt that somehow it was unattractive for me to speculate on any of the success, you know, that, it's...

KING: Now that it's over...

PARKER: It's for someone else to do. But since, you know, you're Larry King, I'd be crazy not to ponder it with you.

KING: Ponder.

PARKER: I just -- I think it's -- it's -- I think it's really, truly -- and this isn't -- I really think it's about good story telling. I think it's the reason people read a book and pass it on to a friend -- whether you're male or female, the way that literature can bring you -- and I think the writers have just skillfully created stories and characters that people relate to for a number of reasons. One being that, yes, in the beginning, the dialogue was candid and it was forthright, and I think women's voices hadn't been presented in this way. And we were on a station where women could speak frankly and the dialogue could be colorful and the situations and circumstances could be provocative. But I always said -- and it was important to me as producer of the show that -- that we not focus too much on the provocative nature of the show, that that is an important, titillating, colorful part of it, but that the show needs to have a soul, that it needs to connect with people viscerally and they need to have strong feelings for or against people's choices.

KING: So it's in the writing.

PARKER: Yes. That was way too long an answer. I'm sorry.

KING: No, it's in the writing.

PARKER: It's in the writing.

KING: No, it was a perfect answer.

Sarah Jessica Parker is our guest. As we go to break, Sarah and Mikhail.

PARKER: Oh!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: I had a life in New York. I had a job and friends, and I didn't give all of that up to come here and wander the streets of Paris alone!

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV. OK. I'm taking a shower and I'm going to bed, and we'll talk more as soon as you calm down.

PARKER: No, no, no, no! No, not as soon as...

BARYSHNIKOV: Please, Carrie! It was an accident. I didn't mean to.

PARKER: No, it's -- it's -- oh (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Oh!

BARYSHNIKOV: I'm so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: Stop! Slow down! You're going to have a heart attack. I mean it, I took care of this myself. I don't need you to rescue me!

CHRIS NOTH: Listen, I'm clocking this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and there's nothing you can do to stop me!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Great guy, Chris Noth.

PARKER: Oh, he's wonderful!

KING: We're back with Sarah Jessica Parker. How long were you in Paris?

PARKER: We shot there for two weeks.

KING: Fun?

PARKER: It was -- it was extraordinary. It was fantastic. We were...

KING: What hotel was that?

PARKER: That was the Plaza Athene (ph).

KING: Oh, beautiful.

PARKER: And we shot, as you saw, all the interiors there and some of the exteriors -- well, most -- all the exteriors and some of the interiors. But we had a really wonderful time in Paris, and a few of our crew members came who had never been before, and it was just -- it was really magical time. It was cold and rainy and poetic and beautiful, and the right ending happened.

KING: Big story your show was New York, wasn't it?

PARKER: It was...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Did you have to have a lot of cooperation, or did you just film in the streets?

PARKER: The city was amazing. It was uniquely easy collaboration, I think. When we first started shooting in the city in '97, there weren't an enormous amount of shows shooting, "Law and Order" and all of Dick Wolf's (ph) shows, and weren't as many then were there. And "Sopranos" wasn't shooting yet. And "Oz" existed, but it was on a sound stage.

So we were fairly -- we felt rather autonomous in the city because we were shooting it in a way that the city hadn't been shot, you know, sparkly and pretty and -- the city was so helpful and really made -- I mean, the city was always an integral part, and I have called it "the fifth lady" for a long time because this particular city at that particular time is the story we were telling. It couldn't have been shot in Detroit at that time. This was the story we were telling. Ask I think people in New York really felt -- they became very proprietary about the show and really made it easy for us.

KING: Why did it end?

PARKER: Oh, it's such -- it's so complicated. Well, I felt and Michael Patrick felt that -- that we were about to have to tell different stories and that he could see -- he could sort of telescope ahead about a year-and-a-half, and he knew the stories he wanted to tell. And I agreed with him, and I felt the same way. And it was unbeknownst to either of us that we were both starting to think this way.

KING: What stories didn't you want to show?

PARKER: Well, we think we -- I think that if the show had gone on for another year, we would have to -- the show would have to really take a sharp left or right turn, whatever is most aggressive to you, and we would have to look at life differently. And I think those are really vital and important stories, and I think that there is a great audience for that next chapter, but we didn't want to tell those yet. I wasn't ready to tell them and Michael Patrick wasn't ready. And HBO -- we talked a lot about it with HBO, and they agreed. And around that -- then -- well, actually, about a year later, we started talking about the idea of this for the cinema.

KING: Is that mean -- so will there be a movie?

PARKER: I think that's what we -- what we have our eyes on.

KING: Certainly has the makings of a movie.

PARKER: I think Michael Patrick has cleverly left the door nicely open...

KING: Sure.

PARKER: ... for a -- you know, a two-hour film, and I'm certainly wanting to see what he does.

KING: Feature movie for movie theaters.

PARKER: Feature, for theatrical release, yes.

KING: There's a paperback out this week called "Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell," summarizing all six seasons. Have you seen it?

PARKER: Yes, I worked very hard on it. It was released...

KING: Oh, you're a part of it?

PARKER: ... in hardcover last year, and this is just released in -- you know, cleverly timed for the final episode. This is the paperback version. It's quite a nice book because it's -- just has a lot of information that's not been available before and wonderful, silly, whimsical looks at the show. And this is a book for people who have spent...

KING: Fans.

PARKER: ... a lot of time with us for the last few years.

KING: And the DVDs are coming out, right, the...

PARKER: Yes. We're making everything available!

KING: Look back on your single days.

PARKER: Look back on mine?

KING: Yes. Did you talk that way to your friends?

PARKER: No, I didn't. No, I...

KING: So was this true?

PARKER: This is -- this is authentic. This is the way a large number of women talk about the intimate details of their life. I was never somebody that could share those details in that kind of candid conversation. It just wasn't my style. I -- you know, I don't choose to use, you know, bad language. It's just...

KING: All right. Did you know people like that?

PARKER: Yes!

KING: You did?

PARKER: Absolutely. And listen, my...

KING: Like, all three of them and...

PARKER: ... moral compass isn't somebody else's...

KING: ... all four of them, then, you knew.

PARKER: I've known -- listen, I've known various -- I've known versions of Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. But I've also been in a room with my friends when they've felt really comfortable and talked about their husbands or boyfriends, various states, good and bad, and some intimate things. And inevitably, the conversation -- somebody will look at me and say, I forgot you were here. I forgot, you know, you don't want to hear this...

(LAUGHTER)

PARKER: ... because it's always -- it's always embarrassing for me.

KING: Were any of the shows very tough for you to do, then? Or you're...

PARKER: No, you know...

KING: ... an actress and an actress does their thing.

PARKER: Yes. I'm playing somebody who is not meant to cringe when Samantha says something hilarious and filthy. And I can see the humor. I don't think the show was ever gratuitous. I don't think it was vulgar. I think it was -- I think it was funny. And I think that both Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall have done such a good job of being comfortable playing these parts. And you know, people talk about ownership of, you know, your -- your being a woman, and I think they've done it really, really well because they tend to have the more salty and ribald...

KING: Yes.

PARKER: ... you know, conversations. But you know, I enjoy being privy to it. I'm just not able to engage in it myself.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Our guest -- which makes it good for Matthew.

PARKER: Well...

KING: Our guest is Sarah Jessica Parker, star and executive producer of the Emmy-winning HBO series "Sex and the City." And she just won her fourth Golden Globe, right?

PARKER: Yes, sir.

KING: You get to be old hat, or is it still a thrill?

PARKER: No. No. There's not a moment that I'm cavalier. No, because every year, you don't -- you -- I'm convinced it's somebody else and that it should be other people and people are doing great work. So I had all sorts of notions this year that it should be Deborah Messinger (ph), Bonnie Hunt or -- jeez, there's -- I mean, there's an enormous amount of talented people, so...

KING: Yes. Back with more of Sarah Jessica Parker. At the bottom of the hour, we'll be taking your phone calls.

Tomorrow night, we'll have our Democratic debate. I'll be the moderator and the host. We'll have reporters from "The L.A. Times." It'll be at the University of Southern California. It's co-sponsored by "The LA Times" and CNN. It's at 9:00 o'clock Eastern for 90 minutes.

And Friday night, the new hot star in television, Donald Trump. Who'd have thought it? We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

PARKER: Oh. Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Hey. Why the tears?

PARKER: Paris is a mess! And I never should have come here!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I forgot to tell you something on the phone. I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You flew back to tell me that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you think of a better reason?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I can't. You have meant more to me than any man I've ever known!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Let's discuss the other people. Kim Cattrall really rose to new heights in this, didn't she?

PARKER: Yes, she's fantastic.

KING: You like working with her?

PARKER: It's great, all of them. It's just been amazing. And they've all been...

KING: Is she anything -- she was here a couple weeks ago. Is she anything like Samantha? PARKER: No!

(LAUGHTER)

PARKER: I don't think anybody is really like Samantha. No, she's done an amazing job of making that character, you know, funny and sexy and...

KING: And sympathetic.

PARKER: ... bawdy and sympathetic and...

KING: What about Kristin and Charlotte?

PARKER: Just lovely, you know, dear and has had wonderful story lines this year and has done such -- has done such beautiful work this year and been so funny and tragic and moving and has a wonderful husband, Harry, played by Evan Handler.

KING: Yes.

PARKER: And Cynthia Nixon, you know, salt of the earth.

KING: What about her?

PARKER: I've known her for over 20 years. We worked together over 20 years ago when we were young -- young girls. And she's just...

KING: In theater?

PARKER: We actually worked together in a movie of the week. We played Vanessa Redgrave's daughters.

KING: Really?

PARKER: Yes. And Jack Albertson (ph) played our grandfather...

KING: Oh, the late Jack...

PARKER: ... and Joe Campanela played our father. And we were -- I think I had just left "Annie." I was 14 years old and she was just 13, and she was taller and she played my older sister. And I've been a great admirer of Cynthia's for many, many years.

KING: Did all of the characters have input into the script? By that, could they say, I'm not comfortable with this line?

PARKER: Oh, yes. I think that if people felt that there were things they just didn't feel comfortable doing -- it was very boutique style. It wasn't at all...

KING: No?

PARKER: No, it was very -- I think everybody has felt comfortable for the last six years talking about if something felt odd or uncomfortable. But for the most part, I think people were fairly game. I think, you know, you might lie in bed at night and think, Can I -- you know, I've talked to Kristin about a couple things. But Michael Patrick King is a fairly persuasive fellow and he's great at the pitch.

KING: Isn't it odd that a man wrote those scripts? And like...

PARKER: Yes and no.

KING: ... gay people love that show, right? Didn't they?

PARKER: Yes, it has -- I think it has a...

KING: The gay community loved it.

PARKER: ... fairly big gay audience...

KING: Yes.

PARKER: ... you know, which is a -- you know, a huge part of our popular culture has been -- has been the gay audience, so it's been wonderful. But I think the show -- you know, it's written -- our head writer is a -- is a -- is a man, but we have -- the rest of the writers on the staff are single woman. And so I think -- it doesn't surprise me because it's Michael Patrick and I know him so well and he is so -- Michael Patrick feels things very deeply and he's very, very smart and he's funny and he is just a good writer who is a great observer -- great observer of -- of -- of life and nuances...

KING: But he understands women.

PARKER: And he -- well, he has a lot -- he has a couple of sisters and he has a mother who is very funny and he's had great female influences in his life. But he also is simply a good writer. And then he has -- is surrounded by five -- can you hear my stomach? I'm so sorry! My stomach is growling, Larry. You didn't feed me.

KING: We didn't feed you?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: We didn't bring any food in?

PARKER: I'm kidding! Anyway, he's surrounded by really talented women who are single and have a lot of stories to tell and share.

KING: Do you have any thoughts on the gay marriage issue?

PARKER: Oh, jeez! You know, I feel like people in this country who feel really strongly about a man and a woman being the only -- the sole sort of gatekeeper of marriage should also support people staying together. I mean, a lot of heterosexual couples don't stay together, and I think that's as upsetting as two people who are really committed and loving and have been monogamous for many years wanting to...

KING: Be married. PARKER: ... be married and have -- share some of the same rights that this country is so uniquely qualified to give people.

KING: We will take a break, come back, and go to your phone calls for Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City." Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Sex and the City")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a girl? Honey, it's a girl!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always wanted a girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We weren't going to ask because I didn't want to know nothing about it, but then I was there and they asked me if I wanted to know, and I said yes. Ever since then, I've been thinking about little girl names. I like Tiffany and Brittany. Wayne says I like any name with a "ny" on the end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not getting the baby, are we.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We changed our minds!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carrie, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn't I tell you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heidi, go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, she's fashion roadkill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Funny episode. We're going to start including your phone calls. One thing about -- you dated John F. Kennedy Jr. once. A few times? Great guy.

PARKER: He was, he was a testament to his parents. He was just a lovely, decent, honorable, special, regular, loved New York.

KING: Why didn't Matthew Broderick ever appear in an episode of "Sex and the City?"

PARKER: He never accepted an offer. This is what Matthew wanted to play the whole time. He wanted to play a janitor in one of the, you know, finer buildings in Manhattan.

KING: Why?

PARKER: I don't know. We should probably speak to him about that. KING: Or his analyst.

PARKER: Or his analyst. I don't know, it just never worked out.

KING: The opening night of "The Producers" with Matthew and Nathan Lane, most electric night ever in New York. Unbelievable.

PARKER: It reminded me of what I used to -- what I read Broadway used to be like in the '40s. Just tremendous anticipation and the glamour and...

KING: And the show equaled the anticipation.

PARKER: Oh, it was, I think it was the most special night, you know with the exception of the birth of my son and my wedding, but, yes.

KING: Speaking of your son. "People" magazine has a big spread on it and there is a little picture of baby James. James Wilkey (ph) right there in the corner.

PARKER: Sweet baby James.

KING: And he also made the "Bazaar" thing with the fashion. Did you ever think any of this would happen to you?

PARKER: I most certainly did not, I assure you. No one in my family did, I'm sure.

KING: How did you like working with Nicholas Cage?

PARKER: Loved him. Loved him. He's a fantastic actor.

KING: Columbus, Ohio, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi. Lazarus. Home of Lazarus Department Store.

KING: What's the question?

CALLER: First, I want to thank you for giving this mother of two toddlers a great place to escape to with that great show of yours.

PARKER: Thank you for watching and giving us a half hour of your time every week. Thank you very much.

CALLER: Being a stay-at-home mom, my question for you is, what is your favorite time of the day with your son?

PARKER: Oh, well, I am particularly fond of being up with him in the morning and he's, he's just, he's just started to walk about a month and a half ago and I like to, I like to be in the house with him. My husband takes him out and they go to the park and he enjoys being outside in this really terrifically cold weather in New York right now. But I like being with him in the morning and cleaning up the kitchen with him. He had a nightmare last night so he came into our bedroom. He's really kind of attached to his crib.

KING: Really?

PARKER: Yes and he has a routine that he responds really really well to. I'm happy to not disturb it but every now and then when he cries sometimes louder than normal in the rooms adjoining his so that he might wake up because I miss him and it's all right if he has a bad dream or if he needs company.

KING: Dallas, Texas, hello.

CALLER: Hi. I just want to know, Sarah, how do you feel about being the most inspirational role model for single women everywhere.

KING: How does that make you feel?

PARKER: Until this moment, I've never been told that, but, you know, I'm very -- I feel extremely lucky that I was part of something that women connected to, that you might call from some place so far away, from a city that we made this show. Where you live is a very different place and the fact that you relate and connect and it may be perhaps changes the way you feel about yourself, that is a great honor for me. And I really mean that, I'm so, I guess I just feel very honored and flattered that you feel a connection to us.

KING: Your life has completely changed, hasn't it?

PARKER: My life is different than it was.

KING: Olympia, Washington, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry, hi, Sarah Jessica. First of all I just want to say that the last episode was excellent. And my question is, what is your favorite storyline or episode over the last six years?

PARKER: Oh, geez. This is very hard for me to pick favorites, but I seem -- if this show -- if I was forced to just sort of picture postcards, I like -- any time I get to walk down the street with one of the ladies. We call them walk and talks and it's short-hand way of describing a scene in a day and I just love them. They're funny, we tend to make mistakes. We're outside in the street in this enormously exciting city and the people are so much a part of the scene than just the regular civilians that live in New York and I love that.

But I also really love the Carrie/Big storyline. I just, I just love it. I'm a romantic and I always like the books and literature where there was great struggle for two people to find one another that people triumphed and I feel like Carrie and Big triumphed on Sunday and so, you know, clearly I'm conflicted about my favorite part of the show.

KING: They were soul mates, right, her and Big, when you get down to it. No matter where they went, they came back.

PARKER: I feel like no matter where they went and no matter who they are and no matter what decisions they made, they need to keep trying. He has to be in her orbit.

KING: Atlanta, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: I have one quick comment and then a question.

PARKER: All right.

CALLER: First of all, my quick comment is one of my top five favorite guilty pleasure movies is "Footloose." Love it, love it! Never miss it when it's on. And my question is, you were smoking in the final episode, how hard was it to quit and have you started again?

PARKER: Fair question, fair question.

KING: You used to smoke. I know a nonsmoker and a smoker.

PARKER: Listen, this was compounded by being in Paris, a city where you're still allowed to smoke.

KING: Are you a smoker?

PARKER: You're basically encouraged to. I smoked when I was playing -- in the early years of Carrie and of course, when I had a baby I didn't and didn't smoke for two years until I went to Paris and, you know, this is the great seduction of a city like Paris with great architecture and food and wine and, so, it's been, it's not been the easiest thing. It was, I told Michael Patrick, I said, oh, please, don't -- must she smoke again? And, you know, like I said earlier, Michael Patrick writes great stories and it's hard once you read a story to not see his point. But it's not been the easiest thing to not to smoke since then.

KING: Have you smoked since?

PARKER: Since then, of free will, you mean, without being employed? Yes, but I'm generally not a smoker. I mean, I have a child, so it's changed everything, luckily.

KING: Does Matthew approve or disapprove?

PARKER: No he would not want anyone around him.

KING: You wouldn't smoke around matthew.

PARKER: Matthew doesn't want me to ever smoke.

KING: So you sneak smoke.

PARKER: I don't really. My lawyer has advised me not to answer this question. I wouldn't call myself a smoker. I would say I had to smoke for work and then I slipped, but I think I'm on the straight and narrow and I think Matthew would like me not to smoke. KING: How did you meet Matthew?

PARKER: I met Matthew through my brothers, Pippin and Toby, actually. Both Pippin and Toby and Matthew actually, all three, were founding members of a theater company in New York City called The Naked Angels and my brother and I were sharing an apartment in New York in '90, I think, yes, 1990 and they were going to the movies. Pippin was going to the movies. My brother Pippin and -- Pippin and Matthew have a mutual best friend Kenny Lonergan who's a great screen right, you can count on me. And at the last minute I joined them, and the movie was sold out and we had to find another source of entertainment and...

KING: Did you like him right away?

PARKER: I liked him very much right away. I think I liked him because he reminded me of the things that my mom talked about, about men when she used to read "The New Yorker." He was really smart and he's from this really wonderful family and he was raised in the west village in New York and he's the funniest person I've ever known, continues to be the funniest person I've ever known. And you know, he's got this really beautiful face and I just -- and we didn't date for quite a while. We didn't date for another few months, but I liked him immediately. He reminded me of memories I didn't have.

KING: Is he going to do "The Odd Couple" with (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

PARKER: I think they're trying to figure out how they -- they're doing the movie "The Producers" in the spring and I think perhaps after, I don't know.

KING: You know, one of the best acting jobs he did and a movie that didn't make it was, "The Cable Guy," as the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was great.

PARKER: You're a very generous man.

KING: The movie didn't make it, but he was sensational.

PARKER: Matthew Broderick always shines.

KING: We'll be back with more calls for Sarah Jessica -- I like weird things.

PARKER: No, I like that movie, too.

KING: We'll be back with more of Sarah Jessica Parker the star, executive producer of the Emmy winning HBO series "Sex and the City."

And they're going to make a movie. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATTRAL: Ladies -- seamen -- 12:00.

NIXON: I pray when I turn around there are sailors because with her, you never know.

PARKER: Oh, wow, we have just spotted our first sailors. Fleet week has begun.

Fleet week is that one week a year, when the U.S. naval ships dock, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is made even fairer with cute, sweet, American Sailors looking for fun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARKER: Shouldn't you be laying down or biting on a leather strap or something?

NIXON: I'm moving around trying to get my water to break. The doctor says it's better than having them break it for you.

PARKER: So, what can I do?

NIXON: When this gets going, don't let anyone get all cheer leader on me. I don't want any of that, you can do it, push, push.

PARKER: Thus, with a destroyed pair Christian Louboutin's began Miranda's delivery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Detroit for Sarah Jessica Parker.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: Just wanted to say a comment and a question to you. Absolutely love the show.

PARKER: Thank you.

CALLER: A big fan. The phone gets cut off there in the 30 minutes.

KING: What's the question?

CALLER: Did you get to keep all the Manolos?

KING: The shoes?

PARKER: I did.

KING: You did.

PARKER: I did.

KING: I mean have you become a Mel Delmarcos (ph). PARKER: Well, you know, it's one of the things, I don't know, for many years I've always had it in my contact that I keep the clothes and the shoes. I guess because I've always loved the clothes and shoes. So, I kept them. We give an enormous amount of them away to charities. Well, he was...

KING: Was he famous before?

PARKER: He was a great shoe designer. I think a lot of women in New York City and some of the bigger cities knew about him, but I would say that the show, that people all over the country now are familiar with a pair of Manolo Blahniks and probably can spot a Manola Blahnik heel from a great distance.

KING: Ottawa, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica. I'm a huge fan. I want to mention that you've been the most inspirational fashion icon of our time.

PARKER: Oh, my gosh.

CALLER: And with that being said, I just want to know how you made the connection with costume designer Patricia Field.

PARKER: Well, that's a great question, and thank you, it's extremely kind of you. I have had the pleasure of working with Pat Field in 1992, I did a movie called "Miami Rhapsody," that David Frankel wrote and directed, and he's a wonderful director. And it was a very different story and, clearly, a very different character and she did a wonderful job. But when we had gone to series in the pilot and we were changing designers, the producer who produced that movie and I were speaking about who might be right, and he reminded me of Pat. And he said, and it was like the greatest light bulb ever, it was so completely obvious that this was simply the only choice. And she came in it was really that point thus for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- not necessary, she came in and was the inspired and inspiring Pat Field.

KING: Long Beach, New York, hello.

CALLER: Oh, my god, hi, Sarah.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: Listen, my daughter wanted me to tell you that you are her fashion icon.

PARKER: Thank you.

CALLER: And also, I would like to know, now that the show is over, are you and the girls going to hang out and go to lunch and stuff?

KING: There's a New Yorker.

PARKER: That's a nice question and so hopeful.

KING: Are you friend?

PARKER: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if we see each other and spend time together socially. But, you know, the truth is Kristin Davis lives in Los Angeles and Cynthia has two children and I have a child and a husband and there's a huge long list of friends and family for all of us who have basically not seen us for the past six years. So, I suspect the first thing we're going to do is try to get back in the good graces of our friend and family who have written us off. And then I think it would be sad to not be together and spend time together and keep up with one another.

KING: Is HBO going to start reshowing the whole series on a regular basis?

PARKER: I think they intend -- I think the last episode will be aired, I think, tonight and maybe again and whoever that rotation is. And then, I think mid-April, I think, they're going to air the final 20 again. And I think then it's gone for a while and then it goes into syndication and it will be available to -- it was bought for syndication.

KING: Would have to edit some things out.

PARKER: TNT and -- gosh -- TNT and Tribune bought it.

KING: They'll edit some things out.

PARKER: It will be a different, not the exact same version because...

KING: And DVDs coming, too.

PARKER: And DVD's for the sixth season. A wider audience will be able to see it, which is exciting it me.

KING: You don't need to work anymore, Sarah.

PARKER: Well, I'll always have to work, it's who I am.

KING: We'll be back with our remaining moments and a phone calls.

PARKER: Our remaining moments?

KING: What do you want do two hours?

PARKER: It flew by, Larry.

KING: You love this, don't you. You love it.

PARKER: I do. I want to take more calls.

KING: We'll be back and take some more and we have a little surprise for you, too. And, don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Max, I want you to meet someone very special.

Julia.

PARKER: Actually, it's Carrie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrie, well, welcome.

NOTH: Carrie writes this fantastic column called "Sex and the City."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if you're looking for material, you're dating the right man.

CHRIS NOTH: Thanks you, Max. Thank you very much.

PARKER: Are we dating? I thought we were just sleeping together.

CHRIS NOTH: Well, I'm sure tonight we won't be doing much of either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PARKER (voice-over): After assessing what little assets I had, I realized I would have to change my lifestyle.

(on camera): Excuse me, can you tell me how much the bus is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $1.50.

PARKER: Really? Wow. Last time I took the bus it was like 75 cents. You know, for three more bucks you can take a cab. Oh, for crying out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you have to take the bus if you're on the bus?

PARKER: My thoughts exactly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Our little surprise is for James. I know you like this show. Two pairs. My kids wear them, your kid will wear them.

PARKER: Oh, Larry, thank you!

KING: Thank the staff, they came up with this idea.

PARKER: He's a lucky fellow. These are the first suspenders he has ever received. I just bought Matthew four new pairs for Christmas. KING: He wears them, too?

PARKER: Yes.

KING: Good.

PARKER: Of course he does.

KING: Washington, D.C., for Sarah Jessica Parker.

CALLER: Hello, Sarah Jessica. I just wanted to tell you that my girlfriends and I are in love with the show and we're all wondering how playing Carrie changed you.

PARKER: Oh, my gosh, I need another hour. First, I think it's changed the way that I look at my female friendships. I am incredibly envious of the time that Carrie gets to spend with her female friends and I'm very admiring of the kind of attention she pays and the kind of devoted friends they are to one another, so, perhaps, maybe a better friend.

But also I think it's given me a relationship with the city that I love and where I live that's been very, very special and it's allowed me great opportunities to meet interesting and diverse and exciting people and to, you know, get nice phone calls from, yes.

KING: Butler, Georgia, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Sarah Jessica.

PARKER: Hi.

CALLER: I want to say that I think you're fabulous and I adore you. And my question is, where do you see Carrie and Big in the next five years?

PARKER: Oh, wow.

KING: What happens to Carrie and Big? Do they get married?

PARKER: I don't know, I think they are going have to work very hard to be the people really are in each other's company. I think it's going to be a wonderfully challenging and exciting and thrilling and painful relationship, but I think they are going to stick it out. I think they're going to be adults about it.

KING: Does Samantha get better?

PARKER: Samantha is better, she is going to be fine.

KING: Because we all care about these people.

PARKER: Yes. Well, that's nice. And we should.

KING: And the adoption networks? PARKER: And the adoption, we hope, is going to work. I think we'll know more. We're assuming the child will arrive safely from China and Miranda will have a wonderful life and a challenging career as an attorney and Samantha will be well.

KING: You're a delight.

PARKER: Oh, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

KING: Sarah Jessica Parker, the star and executive producer of the Emmy winning HBO series, "Sex and the City." And she just won her fourth Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a TV Musical or Comedy series.

I'll come back in a couple minutes and tell you what's coming tomorrow night. Big night tomorrow night. Don't go away, we'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARKER: You felt really set, not to have a man in my life who cares about me. No special guy to wish me happy birthday. No goddamn soulmate. And I don't even know if I believe in soulmates.

DAVIS: Don't laugh at me, but maybe we can be eachother's soulmates. And then we could let men be just these great nice guys to have fun with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Tomorrow night I'm being bumped by myself...

(LAUGHTER)

KING: LARRY KING LIVE will be preempted for the CNN/Los Angeles Times Democratic presidential debate at the University of Southern California. I'll host that debate, so there will not be a LARRY KING LIVE, but there will be a 90 minute debate tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern.

Right now, standing by in New York. My man, a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker...

AARON BROWN, HOST "NEWSNIGHT": Yes, I am.

KING: ...and like Sarah, a Yankee fan as well, meaning, they're used to only having the best and put it on a silver plate in front of them.

Aaron Brown is next. Mr. B, the stage is yours.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com