Michael Patrick King has revealed his original plans for Stanford in And Just Like That… after Willie Garson’s death forced him to change course.
Garson played Carrie Bradshaw’s close friend and confidante Stanford Blatch in the original series of Sex and the City. He reprised the role in early episodes of its current-day spin-off.
However, he died in September 2021 of pancreatic cancer, aged 57, before he could complete work on the full 10-episode run.
As show creator King learned of Garson’s illness, he had to alter his ideas for what Stanford would experience in the series and write him out of the show.
In a new interview with Variety, King has opened up about the original story arc he’d had in mind for the character, including more of a focus on his mysterious job.
“Before I knew that Willie was sick and couldn’t complete it, Stanford was going to have a midlife crisis,” King explained. “Stanford’s character always had a borderline career as a manager, and we were like going to explore the fact that it wasn’t a real career. It was going to be Carrie and him, feeling the shifts.”
Part of these shifts, King continued, included Stanford breaking up with husband Anthony Marentino, as he did in his final And Just Like That… episode.
However, the writer wanted to explore their breakup parallel to Carrie’s experiences as a widow, following the death of her husband in episode one.
“There was a series of really fun, flirty, hilarious confidante scenes with Carrie that I loved,” King recalls. “That old, old, very specific chemistry that Carrie and Stanford have, which is based totally on the uniqueness of Willie and Sarah Jessica [Parker]’s history.”
Later, King explained the difficulties of writing Stanford out with the knowledge that Garson would never return. In episode four, Stanford tells Carrie via a note that he’s moved to Japan, leaving his life, friends and spouse behind in New York City.
According to King, it was necessary to make his departure simple and without comic effect, as Garson’s real-life death made the situation not “funny or cute”.
“I knew the audience would never invest in it, because they knew he was never coming back. It’s the most threadbare writing I’ve ever done just to move him along without much manoeuvring, because it was just so sad.
“There was no way I could write myself out of that in any charming, cute way.”
Garson’s cast mates, including Parker, Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte), posted tributes to him when he died, praising his sense of humour and warm spirit.
