Chris Noth

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

Chances are, when your typical woman hears the name Chris Noth, you're most likely to go, 'Hmm'' than 'Mmm'. But when she hears that person go by the name of Mr. Big, then she instantly melts into oblivion.

Actor Chris Noth has been known best by the latter name for six years as Carrie Bradshaw's love interest on the perennial HBO TV comedy Sex In The City. Now he returns to his pivotal role in the long-awaited film follow-up to the hit TV series.

When the now-53-year old actor received the word that the long-brimming Sex And The City movie was indeed to be greenlighted, there was no doubt whatsoever after he saw the script, penned by longtime series writer Michael Patrick King.

'Yeah, it was easy,' Noth remarks, 'Because the writing was uplifting and I thought it was the perfect transition to the big screen and it needed the big screen to articulate this particular canvas. It was a bigger story. It goes to some darker places, so it was easy.'

For many who may have never read the original novel by Candace Bushnell or seen the TV series, we had to start off with the $64,000 question, why is he called Mr. Big'

'That's an old story,' Chris replies, 'That's kind of been discussed, but his name is John and I think it goes back to the book that Candace Bushnell wrote. I think her Mr. Big was a highly successful man who dealt in a very highly competitive world and he was doing big things and I think it was that big a relationship, the one that stays with you forever, among other things that are big.'

Despite having had moved on to greener pastures with a recurring role on USA Network's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, he says that people for a long time still identify him with his iconic Sex & The City.

'I get it every day,' Chris says, 'Kim [Cattrall] gets it quite a lot, too. My favorite story ever is I was doing Criminal Intent out near Coney Island and we were doing a driving scene in a car and we were holding up traffic. We're in a particular light and there was a big four-wheeler that we were holding up to get the shot. In the middle of the shot, this guy, forget about it, I'm done waiting, he went through the light and cut across where my car is stopped.'

'Now I'm looking up, I see the guy roll down the window, sticks his head out, and I'm expecting, 'You piece of crap!'' he continues, 'You know, 'Hate you, hate your show!' He's keeping me waiting. He rolls down the window and goes, 'When are you going to marry Carrie'!' This big burly truck driver, and then, drives away. It was pretty funny.'

Chris also notes that that kind of excitement, plus the four year gap between the series finale and the film proved to be worthy in rejuvenating the show's creative spirit for the film.

'I think that's why after a four year wait, I was aware that there was a resilience in the show,' Noth believes, 'That you could take four years and there was still this desire and need for the next story, the next stage of these people's lives. So I think it was a good thing to wait that long.'

Chris also shares his optimism that eager fans, as well as newcomers, will absolutely love the film, particularly due to writer King's involvement as both writer and director.

'It gets right on the edge of sophomoric humor, but it never really goes there,' he claims, 'It always has a little more of a bite, I feel. There's always a little more satire, underneath the playing. I think [director/writer] Michael [Patrick King] has an impeccable ear to what's happening today in our culture, whether it's in 1998 or now.'

'He's able to take that and put it into the script, but there's some deeply funny moments,' Chris adds, 'He's always been great and the show's always been great at showing the foibles of sex, all from humiliation to hypocrisy, in terms of the way society makes decisions about it. I think he loves to poke fun at it in a very healthy way.'

The filming of the movie was notorious for being constantly plagued by paparazzi trying to uncover secrets about the film's plot, particularly a rumor swirling in reaction to one particular scene where it was assumed one of the characters in the film was to die.

'Yeah, I mean, everybody thought it kind of was insane,' Noth says, 'I never seen it before. They were trying to find out every single kind of nuance and what it meant. That's why I'd always slip them a mickey. I'd go buy a drink and go, God, I can't take another funeral. And hour will go by. When she wakes up from that dream, it will really surprise people. It was so much fun.'

Another perk of the movie, Noth believes, is the film's star-studded soundtrack.

'I love the soundtrack and I think Jennifer [Hudson] did an amazing song,' he says, 'I'm not familiar with Fergie. I'd thought we get a little Dionne Warwick for us, but we didn't get her. But we have a great soundtrack. I think it will be a good record. I put it in The Cutting Room, on the jukebox.'

We also asked Chris whether he ever felt overwhelmed by all the estrogen of a series dominated by so many strong female personalities.

'There was a little of that, but it was mostly during the series, after six years,' Chris admits, 'Not during the movie, because I was going right back to [Law & Order:] Criminal Intent. Actually, coming from the set of Sex & The City to the sets of Criminal Intent, I got no sympathy from the crew over on Criminal Intent. They're like, (in snotty voice) 'Hi, Mr. Big!' You hear victims, with a hole in his head, 'Would you like a Cosmo while you try to find out WHO BLEW HIS BRAINS OUT'!''

'But I would often call Sarah and be like, 'Where are you guys'!' We're at Fifth Avenue at some restaurant and I'm like (in meek voice) 'Can I come back''' he continues, 'I'm pretty lucky though. I have a great situation on both of them with wonderful people on either side. There's a lot more testosterone on the Law & Order set. Because the hours are so long, you're prone to silliness and goofiness, which I'm king of on that set. You got to keep sane, so you got to keep laughing.'

If the chemistry between Carrie and Big, in the relationship's good and bad moments, always seemed to click perfectly on the TV series, Chris says a lot of it is due to his great chemistry with his co-star Sarah Jessica Parker.

'I'm awfully fond of her and I trust her totally and I feel Michael takes care of us at the writing and she takes care of me at the acting,' Noth believes, 'So I think we complement each other and that may spill over into the scene sometimes.'

However, despite the female-centered world on Sex In The City, he believes that male viewers can just as easily enjoy the film as women and that the show's men, including Mr. Big, play a vitally important role in the development and evolution of the women.

'I think it's there,' he believes, 'I mean, we're in a woman's world, you know, let's face it, or at least I am on this show. But without us, there could be no reflection. We sort of reflect on their needs and on the failings of the relationship and the positive aspects of it.'

'But without us, as much of it is about their friendships, a big part of their friendships is talking about their relationships, which we are involved with,' Noth continues, 'So, in that sense, I don't think it's a girl movie or chick flick really, even though part of the premise is that their relationship's together. But without us, their relationship can't be informed without us having to help them bitch about us, complaining.'

However, Noth strongly advises against fans' boyfriends or husbands who may be inclined to use Sex & The City as a sort of Biblical teaching tool in understanding the complexities of women.

'I'm always hesitant to say that you can learn anything from a movie or TV, no matter how well-written it is,' Chris insists, 'I don't take my cues from it, I don't recommend anybody. I just recommend that you enjoy it and that you can make your own conclusions. I wouldn't look at it as a self-help book.'

However, despite the longtime high-end bachelor status of his own character, Chris says his own taste in women is a bit more modest.

'I just like the way a woman looks in certain kinds of clothes,' Noth says, ' I don't necessarily know their names. I'm a little dumb when it comes to what makes fashion work. I'm not into Victoria's Secret very much. I find that a little over the top and kind of gaudy and trying too hard. As a fashion statement, it's like somebody who puts on too much makeup. But I love subtlety, elegance, and like any other guy, but we don't necessarily know the names.'

High heels'

'Yeah, sure, especially when they're in their underwear (chuckles),' he replies.

With its enormous and still heavily devoted female fan base, the Sex & The City movie is poised to be one of the summer's biggest hits. We asked Noth what it is about the series that has allowed it to endure so much after four years off the air.

'Sex & The City does two things at once, I believe,' Chris says, 'It satisfies the sort of sweet tooth lust of glitz and glamour and fashion, not that fashion is superficial or anything. But underneath all of it is a real depth and a real substance that is a human, universal need for love, forgiveness, redemption, coming together, and friendship.'

'It's rooted in that, so that even with all that other eye candy, that's not the soul of the show. I think people instinctively may feel that,' he adds, 'I hope they do. Because I think other shows that have sort of tried to take off what Sex In The City to miss, they go to the veneer, they go to the glitz, but it's rooted in real human relationships.'

However, those hankering for more of the man behind Mr. Big this summer can catch him on Law & Order: Criminal Intent

'We were finishing out,' Noth notes, 'Our third season starts out in June on The USA Network. It's been great. We have a great bunch of writers. I think they're the best episodes since the first season of the original Law & Order.'