Sex and the City's Mr Big Was Almost Played by This Controversial Comedy Actor

Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth sizzled for six seasons of Sex and the City as Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big. They were the mismatched couple who couldn't stay away from each other, but Mr. Big was almost played by a totally different actor. Yes, it's hard to imagine anyone but Noth in the role, but he wasn't the first choice.

The show's creator, Darren Star, has revealed that he originally wanted 30 Rock actor Alec Baldwin for the role. "I was thinking of Alec Baldwin for Big initially," he told Entertainment Weekly. That was until he met Chris Noth, and he realized he had found the perfect John James Preston.

"I don't really watch Law & Order, but I met with Chris Noth and thought he was perfect. I remember the first table read, how good he was. I'm not saying that Chris was Mr. Big, but he brought a lot of his own persona to the role," Darren told the outlet back in 2016. Mr. Big is the perfectly polarizing type of character we can imagine Alec Baldwin playing. In 1998, the year Sex and the City debuted, Alec appeared in Mercury Rising and Thick as Thieves.

In the same interview, Darren admitted that John Corbett almost didn't appear in the famous HBO show. Aidan Shaw, another of Carrie's love interests, was almost played by a totally different actor.

The creator wanted Aidan Quinn, but he wasn't available, so they set their sights on Corbett. "I loved John Corbett in Northern Exposure, and we were like, ‘Well, what's John Corbett been up to?' He just had the laconic, dudish vibe. But we kept ‘Aidan' because we loved the name."

Would Sex and the City still have its charm if an entirely different cast of actors starred in it? Probably not. Would it have become the show we all know and loved without SJP, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and co?

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 9:52 AM.