If you’ve ever wondered what the Sex and the City ladies were like before we met them on the HBO series, you’ll love the latest news from the CW.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news Sunday that the rumored Sex and the City prequel has been picked up by the network. The series, based on SATC author Candace Bushnell‘s The Carrie Diaries, follows Carrie Bradshaw during her senior year of high school. The novel is set in the ’80s in a small Connecticut town.
The book, published last year, tells the story of Carrie’s relationship with her boyfriend Sebastian Kydd and her rivalry with Donna LaDonna. The second prequel novel followed this year, focusing on Carrie’s first trip to New York City and how she met Samantha and Miranda.
SATC stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis have publicly opposed the idea of a prequel, albeit in on the big screen, because the characters have established a history that would be difficult to recreate. Davis added, “And then have like different people with our names? It’s kind of freaky.”
Sounds like Kristin is a little too identified with her SATC persona.
But she does have a point, since the prequel novels do not exactly follow Carrie’s history as related in the HBO series. In Carrie Diaries, for example, Carrie’s father is raising his three daughters after his wife passed away. In the TV series, Carrie says that her father deserted the family and her mom raised her. The writers will have to find a way to explain such inconsistencies, assuming they want continuity with SATC.
Personally, I like the idea, and I think we should play our favorite game: Casting For Lesbian Viewers. Again, we have a bit of a challenge if we want a sense of continuity with the SATC characters we know and love.
The biggest challenge is Carrie, since she is the central character from start to finish. The Carrie Diaries starts in high school, so we need an actress who can play teenager – and at least has some of the physical characteristics of Sarah Jessica Parker.
My choice: Emily Osment, perhaps best known as Hannah Montana’s BFF Lily.
Osment is 19, but I think she could play a believable 16, especially if she goes back to her natural color hair. She’s an athlete, which is important since Carrie was on the swim team. (Yes, I think she should meet Emily Fields at a meet and have a fling. I mean, if you can make out with Emily and still like boys, you are definitely straight, right?)
The character of Donna LaDonna isn’t in SATC – at least not that I remember – so this is a good chance to add some much-needed color to the mix with KeKe Palmer.
Palmer is in the teen series True Jackson VP, but surely that show can’t last much longer. She has expressed interest in producing, but hasn’t ruled out more acting roles. Plus, she’s a great singer, which means she could be in Glee Club, which opens the possibility of a fling with Santana Lopez at a regional choral competition.
I suspect Carrie Diaries might bring in Samantha and Miranda sooner than they appear in the books. (Charlotte isn’t in the prequel stories – yet.) I hope so, because I want Georgie Henley, aka Lucy in the Narnia movies, to play Miranda.
Perfect, right? She could meet a younger Serena Southerlyn at a Moot Court competition and, well, you know.
What do you think of a Sex and the City prequel? Can The Carrie Diaries succeed if the story is inconsistent with SATC? Who are your choices to play a younger Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte?
