How do you think Carrie’s changed as a person from Sex and the City to And Just Like That…? This is someone who was in their 30s and now they’re in their 50s. I think she seems more chill.

[Nods.] Aren’t you different to how you were 10 years ago? You’re more equipped to deal with the things that are harder to deal with. You know more, you’ve had more experiences. You’ve hurt somebody, they’ve hurt you, you’ve disappointed somebody, they’ve disappointed you. You fell short at work, you were great, you got fired, you got hired, you’re just better at life. It’s interesting that people are like, “She’s so much more mature…”

Do other people say this to you?

Oh, all day. And I’m like, of course she is! Season 1, her husband passed away and I think she dealt with it so freaking well. There’s so much nobility attached to grief; I thought she was generous about it, she wasn’t narcissistic. And then you’re recovering, you’re resurfacing. She’s reaching out again, she’s seeing what exists in the world for her. So all that stuff informs you—I hope.

So it’s not surprising to me that she’s “more chill,” as you put it, more philosophical… not hysterical. When there’s a revelation that Aidan shares with her, 20 years ago she would have marched off and talked to her friends like, “I should leave him and that’s not what we understood and that’s not the arrangement!” This time she was like, “Well, what do you think? Because this is what I was thinking.” It’s not drama or unnecessary hysteria.

I’m the same age as Carrie was in the first season of SATC and I’m semi doing her job, although our lives are very different. Do you have any advice on how to be more Carrie?

I feel like you don’t need it. You don’t need my advice. Look at you. What do you feel is absent in your life? Where is the deficit?

Well, apart from the walk-in wardrobe…

Keep in mind that was Perry Street, that was that little apartment. And that closet was big, but it wasn’t shiny. It was kinda nasty, in a good way, do you know what I mean? And filled with, initially, used stuff, vintage stuff. And by the way, you look like you’d have an amazing closet.