Are you a Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or a Samantha?
It’s a question as old as time (or at least since June 6, 1998, when “Sex and the City” premiered on HBO).
The show’s four leading ladies collectively comprise a group of best friends in their 30s, navigating life and relationships in New York City in a time after the “end of love in Manhattan,” as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) puts it in the pilot.
Their friendship is maintained through phone calls, parties, cab rides and meals and often consists of a central debate, with each person bringing a different perspective to the situation. Their conversations are full of banter and little disagreements, with each scene illuminating just how different each character is, setting up a perfect — and lasting — form of self-categorization.
Kristin Davis, who plays Charlotte, says she fittingly identifies as a “Charlotte.”
“I think BuzzFeed had a quiz and people send it around. My daughter has gotten it, which is hysterical, and luckily she is a Charlotte,” she tells TODAY.com with a laugh, referring to daughter Gemma.
The personality litmus test also lent itself to her latest venture, a “Sex and the City” rewatch podcast called, “Are You A Charlotte?” The goal of the podcast is to connect with fans, she says.
Currently on the podcast, Davis and her guests — a lineup she says will include TODAY’s own Jenna Bush Hager, “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell and Sarah Jessica Parker — are still rewatching Season 1.
“The first season, especially, I barely remember it,” Davis says. “Because we used to film really quickly, also, so we would film all night. Maybe we had five days, I want to say, an episode … I’d have to go back, it might have even been four. Like it was fast.”
Now, there’s more time dedicated to filming each episode, she says. Davis currently stars as Charlotte in “And Just Like That…,” the “Sex and the City” revival.
Headed into Season 3, Davis calls it “a big season.” Viewers left Charlotte in Season 2 on her journey of returning to work while balancing the expectations of being a wife and mother, including setting husband Harry (Evan Handler) straight on the division of their workload.
“The pressure of trying to be a good wife, be a good mother, her children are getting older, so she’s trying to figure out, ‘How much time can I devote to my career, at my job? … What do I need to succeed?'” Davis says. “This is a big question for everyone, so I really relate to it myself, obviously, too. And that continues through the season, and you’re going to see her really struggle with that.
“And it’s a fun, fun storyline,” she adds.
“And Just Like That…,” which premiered in December 2021, reunited Davis, Nixon and Parker as Charlotte, Miranda and Carrie. Season 2 memorably saw the brief return of Samantha, when Kim Cattrall made a cameo in the finale.
How to tell if you’re a Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha or Miranda
While fans have been categorizing themselves as a Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or Samantha for years, Davis has her own ideas for how to decide which character you’re most like. She boils it down to four key questions to ask yourself, centered on each character’s core identity:
- Are you a searcher?
- Are you a trailblazer?
- Do you say it like it is?
- Are you looking for a traditional outcome for your life?
After whichever question has you shouting, “Yes!” the most definitively, read on for which “Sex and the City” character that makes you.
Are you a searcher?
Yes? Congrats, you’re a …
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Carrie!
“In terms of the other (characters), like Carrie, I would say, are you a searcher? Are you looking for answers? Are you investigating things?” Davis poses.
In each episode of the original show, Parker’s character, a columnist, took on a relationship or life dilemma, and in the process of writing it, often framed the issue as a question. Davis says the key to Carrie’s identity is her signature phrase: “I couldn’t help but wonder.”
Carrie is also “not so worried about tradition,” Davis notes.
“Carrie is more independent and looking for what would make her happy, not necessarily what society might be expecting,” she says.
Are you a trailblazer?
Then you’re a…
Samantha!
Taking things a step further from Carrie’s independence, Davis describes Samantha as a “trailblazer.”
“Are you super independent?” Davis says. “Are you unapologetic about getting what you need? Such good qualities, powerful qualities.”
Do you say it like it is?
You’re most like…
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Miranda!
Davis describes a Miranda as someone “open in how you talk.”
“Do you say it like it is?” she says. “Are you open to eating food out of a trash can? Do you like cats?”
A huge part of a Miranda’s identity is also career-centric, she says.
“Are you into your career? She is a lawyer, and she’s very good at it, and she wants to become partner, and she’s super smart,” Davis says. “So are you super smart? That would be a Miranda question.”
Are you looking for a traditional outcome for your life?
If yes, you are a…
Charlotte!
“First of all, in terms of, are you a Charlotte, I would say, ‘Do you believe in love? Are you loyal?’” Davis adds.
At her core, Charlotte is looking for “a traditional outcome” to her life. She also has certain material loves that are part of her identity, too, Davis says.
“Do you love dogs? Are you into structured and starched clothing?” Davis asks with a laugh. “Do you like white flowers?”
