laughs. “Sometimes you have 45 minutes to do a workout, and then you don’t because the nap didn’t happen at 1.45pm, it happened at 2.20pm and you’ve to be at work at four…” she trails off. “I find exercise is low on the list of my priorities.” But what she would prioritise is time with friends and family. “All my sisters and brothers have kids now, so we don’t get to see each other in the same way we used to.” Perhaps that’s why she was so
convincing as the heart of her friendship group in SATC. But when it comes to the show’s other great female celebration – fashion – she’s not so confident. Because despite being showered with designer goods and being constantly papped on the
school run, she says she doesn’t have time to waste worrying about what she wears. “I think you can see that I don’t,” she admits. “I have domestic duties that need tending to first.” “I’m aware of people’s association with me and fashion and I certainly take that role on, but it doesn’t dominate my thoughts,” she says. “I like getting dressed up and having the opportunity to borrow beautiful dresses, but as somebody who’s schedule isn’t always my own, I don’t think about clothes a lot.” “Like every other mother I know,
you just try to get out of the door in the morning,” she admits. “During the school year there’s no nod to anything other than practical, and getting out of the house without
TENTHINGSYOUNEVER KNEWABOUTSJP
■ She is left handed.
■ She studied dance with the Cincinnati Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and perfected her talent for singing with the Metropolitan Opera.
■ She is a fan of British TV shows Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous.
■ She turned down the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman, which went to Julia Roberts.
■ James Wilkie was named after Matthew Broderick’s father James and Wilkie Collins, one of SJP and
Matthew’s favourite writers.
■ When
questioned about her no
nudity clause
in her SATC contract, SJP has been quoted as saying, “You don’t want to see me topless.”
■ She admits to having an entire closet in her home just for her footwear.
■ Her 10th great-grandmother was arrested in Salem in the late 1600s for witchcraft. The case never went to court, she escaped with her life and the accusation ended the Salem Witch Trials.
■ Manolo Blahnik named a shoe in her honour, the SJP.
■ She had 81 costume changes in the 2008 Sex And The City movie and cites her favourite item as a vintage belt that she named Roger!
food or drool or God knows what else on you is virtually miraculous.” And her schedule is busy. As well as
parenting and her work as a UNICEF ambassador, she’s currently starring in rom-com, New Year’s Eve. There are rumours of a third Sex And The City film but she insists, “It’s a small story, I know what it is and I think it should be told. The question is, what’s the right time to tell it?” But for now SJP’s managing just fine without Carrie Bradshaw. “I wish I had some kind of reliable blueprint for life but I don’t,” she smiles. “The truth is things change. I like an interesting, complicated life. I prefer it to almost anything else.”