LOS ANGELES?We had ?Sex and the City? in New York last weekend.

The long-awaited film version of the phenomenally successful TV series was finally made. The fashionista foursome?Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon?are back and so is Mr. Big, the love of Carrie Bradshaw. We interviewed the cast one after another at the Mandarin Oriental in the Big Apple.

We featured Cynthia in yesterday?s column. Today, we report about Kim Cattrall, whose Samantha has moved to (gasp!) Los Angeles, to manage her actor-boyfriend (Jason Lewis); and Chris Noth, (Mr. Big), who said that he?d love to visit the Philippines to experience its great diving destinations. Both Kim and Chris are fabulous at 51.

Kim Cattrall

Michael Patrick King, the writer-director, told us that your character?s sexually precocious dog is actually a girl; she can do ?it? on cue; but likes it only in the mornings.
I think every actress should do her close-ups in the morning (laughter). You look the freshest in the morning.

Tell us more about this dog.
She was very sweet and incredibly over-prepared for her role. I particularly loved it when we had matching outfits. The first time I saw her, she was made to look downtrodden and sort of lost. My heart went out to her. She did get her close-up before mine continuously, which really got in my craw but besides that, I loved working with her. It?s tough working with animals because sometimes they?ll do it and sometimes they won?t. But she was very well-trained.

It?s rare in Hollywood to see a woman in her fabulous 50s not playing a grandmother but a sex symbol. You?ve broken the stereotype.
When I was offered the role 10 years ago, I really felt that my salad days were over (laughter). I didn?t know if I could pull it off. I wasn?t feeling very sexy. This was ageism and I was practicing it on myself. But I signed on to do the series and then a year later, I thought, ?We?re onto something here.? Six years later, [I know it?s] a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Vamps don?t last this long. I?m in my 50s now and feeling sexier than ever because, one thing I learned in a documentary that I did was that sex really does start in the brain. It starts right there so as long as you got this going on, the rest of it follows.

Without giving the scene away to viewers, let?s just say that you figure in a moment that has something to do with Japanese food.
I will never be able to visit a Japanese restaurant [again]. I like Japanese food; I guess [I?d settle for] take-out.

Did you try that scene with, maybe French or Mexican food?
I wish. After like, 14 hours of sushi, it was really more than enough. Especially when it started to get warm?it was not good. I love Japanese food but I?m also very partial to French and Italian. But I don?t think spaghetti was going to work.

Chris Noth

It has been four years since the series ended. Give us an update.
I got older (laughter). I have a three-month-old son named Orion. I went back to ?Law & Order: Criminal Intent.? I?ve been pretty busy with that; I?m in my third season. I did some theater. It just goes pretty fast. I bought a place in Los Angeles. I did some traveling.

So we don?t reveal much to the audience, let?s just say there?s a crucial scene between you and Sarah Jessica involving roses that?s quite a powerful moment. Can you talk about Sarah as an actress, using that scene as an example of how good she is?
She went to a very raw place in that scene. Sarah always goes where she needs to go to get to the core of a scene. I am not very fond of roses anymore. I think what?s surprising is that this movie goes there. People think of ?Sex and the City? as light and frothy, but this movie goes to a deep, tragic place in Carrie?s heart. And I thought Sarah handled it beautifully.

Your love scenes with Sarah are really convincing as well.
When they talk about the chemistry of our characters, it comes from a real affection between us that was born from six years of working together. I often joke with her in the mornings?I say, ?You?re the clear blue sky and I?m like the muddy river.? Eventually my river clears up a little bit after being with her. We know each other in a way that allows the fun that we have to spill over into our scenes. I adore her. I?ve watched her become a mother and she watched me become a father.

There was a sparkle in your eyes when you mentioned your baby.
He?s my sunshine, Orion. I named him after my favorite constellation. He was an unexpected miracle because I had gotten to a point in my life where I wasn?t looking to have children. I thought it was a much younger man?s game. I don?t think anyone is prepared for the depth of feeling you have when you have a child. Orion?s a real beauty. I just recorded his voice, his breathing on my phone. I miss him.

Why did it take you so long to embrace fatherhood?
I was scared of it. I was frightened that I wasn?t going to be able to handle the responsibility. I?ve been a bit of a gypsy all my life. I was living a very free life in terms of doing what I wanted to do. Those habits are sometimes difficult to break. But your child smiles at you and then you?re no longer worrying about that.

Are you becoming like a spokesman for this generation?s men?
I have a condom line coming out (laughter). Mr. Big?s studded condoms. Guaranteed to keep you safe and happy. No, I don?t know what you mean.

What kind of reaction did you get as a man in your character?s on-again, off-again romance with a character like Carrie Bradshaw, who was symbolic of some of today?s single women? What kind of reaction do you think you?ll get with this movie?
I?m expecting to get a beating from various women anywhere I go. If they see the whole movie, maybe they won?t be quite so angry at me. But I really get the rainbow spectrum of responses on the street. I take the subways. I walk the streets like I?ve done since I was a struggling actor. I may be in for it depending on the reaction?the good and the bad, the slap and the kiss, ?I love you; I hate you.?

How do you feel about being called Mr. Big everywhere?
The name Mr. Big came from the book that Candace Bushnell wrote. You?d have to go back to her ideas of who that man was. He was obviously a guy who dealt in a very successful world. He?s a big shot, not in the worst sense of the word but in the sense that he didn?t live in a small way, obviously. It also could have meant that the guy was the big relationship in Carrie?s life. There are many ways but the basic thing is, once you sign on, you go with the conceit of the show. You don?t question it anymore. There were things about the show that were highly exaggerated for comedic reasons.

We French consider the big thing from a different angle (laughter).
Oh, the big thing? You know, that?s not bad (laughter). It depends on the weather.

Can you talk about your first part in a film? You played a transvestite prostitute.
Yeah, it was the richest experience I?ve ever had (laughter).

That was the only part you could get?
That was what was there at the time. I think we shot that film in 1980 or 1981. It was Susan Seidelman?s first film. All I remember is that I improvised on my performance. I was in the back of a truck with a lot of other people. I had no idea what the movie was about. I haven?t seen it. I would like to see that film and see how I look in a dress (laughter).

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.