As she neared her 70th birthday, there was one thing Kim Cattrall knew only too well.
“I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m not enjoying myself – not even for an hour,” she says.
“I want to choose who I spend time with personally and professionally. It’s my life. I’ve become aware there’s only so much time left!”
When Kim – who shot to fame playing saucy Samantha Jones in Sex and the City – celebrated her milestone birthday on August 21, the person she spent it with was her new husband Russell Thomas, 56.
After 10 years together, the loved-up twosome quietly tied the knot at the end of last year with just 12 guests to witness their union. The couple has studiously kept their romance out of the spotlight since meeting in a London radio studio in 2016, but every now and then, Kim can’t help but drop her guard.
“I’m very comfortable around him” she laughs.
“He’s a firecracker and he’s got a wicked sense of humour. And he’s very easy on the eyes.”
Embracing getting older
After three previous marriages, the UK-born, Canada-raised actress has clearly found the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with. And at the same time, she’s enjoying a newfound acceptance of the ageing process.
“Younger is not where it’s at,” she muses.
“Older and feeling young is where it’s at. I’m doing things I really enjoy. My life will change and it will evolve as I get older, and I’m accepting that instead of fighting against it. Letting go does start to begin to feel like peace.”
After starring in a string of ’80s movies, including Porky’s and Police Academy, Kim assumed her career was all but over in 1998, when she was offered the role of sexually voracious Samantha in the show that captivated a generation of women.
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Turning 40 into sexy
She was 41 and turned the offer down four times because she couldn’t believe audiences would see a woman of her age as sexy.
“Self-inflicted ageism!” she laughs now.
“Well, that changed. Forty became sexy. It became, ‘Man, let’s have more of that!’”
After six seasons of the TV show and two follow-up movies, Kim had had enough of the role that made her famous. She refused to appear in the third movie, which was subsequently canned, and only had the smallest of cameo appearances in the recent reboot, And Just Like That… Despite pressure from the show’s producers and fans alike, she never regretted the decision.
“It’s a great wisdom to know when enough is enough,” she explains.
“I moved on.”
When life hit hard
Hot on the heels of Sex and the City, Kim was hit by a string of devastating events: Her beloved father Dennis died in 2012 and menopause hit hard, bringing with it a long battle with insomnia, which meant she often had to survive on just three hours’ sleep a night. It got so bad, she had to pull out of a theatre role due to sleep deprivation. Then in 2018, her brother Chris died by suicide following a long struggle with alcoholism, aged 55. She was haunted by guilt and the “magical thinking” that she could have saved him.
“A friend of mine, who’s a big advocate of AA, which my brother never went to, said alcohol is a mistress that gets you alone and then kills you,” explains Kim.
“It was startling to hear that with such a bare-bones clarity. And that’s exactly what happened. “I had to accept that I couldn’t change that destiny. That as much as I thought I could, and as powerful as I thought I was, I couldn’t have prevented it.”
Kim also experienced a career lull.
“I felt things slipping away. It was a gradual change, but the scripts were cut in half. In Hollywood, you’re either an ingenue or a leading lady, and then a divorced wife or a cougar. And I’m none of those things.”
Learning to say no
Eventually, she found roles that appealed and has worked steadily ever since, starring in everything from Netflix comedy Glamorous to comedy Filthy Rich. One thing she draws the line at these days, however, is nudity.
“I don’t want to be nude any more,” she states.
“I’m in great shape, but I’m just not interested. I feel like I filled my quota on that one!”
Knowing how to say no, she adds, is one of the best skills a woman can learn in Hollywood.
Other examples? “Saying, ‘No, that salary is unacceptable,’” she laughs.
“And, ‘No, we are not having a meeting in your hotel room!’”
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