Cynthia Nixon defends how 'AJLT' handled Miranda and Steve

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Cynthia Nixon defends how 'And Just Like That' handled Miranda and Steve

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 1/28/22

Major spoiler alert for those who aren't caught up on "And Just Like That...," HBO Max's limited series revival of "Sex and the City."

Cynthia Nixon stopped by "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" to discuss what is happening with Miranda, whom Nixon has played since "SATC" premiered in 1998. Miranda was previously happily married to Steve Brady (David Eigenberg), but in "AJLT," their relationship is in a rut without romance.

Miranda falls madly and recklessly in love with Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), a queer non-binary podcast host and stand-up comedian who meets Miranda through working with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker).

Anyway, people have been very upset with how Steve has simply been discarded, and Cohen asked Nixon if she understands where the audience is coming from.

"I do, but I have to say that that's the thing about breakups," the two-time Emmy winner said. "Oftentimes, there's one person that is making the breakup happen, and the other person who is reluctant, but I have to say, that person who is reluctant is pretty miserable, too, and they're just not admitting it."

Nixon isn't the only one who has had to answer to the Steve slander.

"AJLT" and "SATC" writers Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky also recently defended Steve's brutal storyline to Vanity Fair, including the fact that Steve is partially deaf because Eigenberg is struggling with the same issue.

"When [showrunner] Michael Patrick [King] reconnected with David Eigenberg about the show, the very first thing that David said was, ‘I got hearing aids.’ It was literally what he led with," Zuritsky explained to the publication. "That actually wound up being Steve’s tone about his aging [in the show]."

She continued: "Everyone on the show, every single person, loves David Eigenberg as a human being.We love him as an actor. We love Steve. We are really invested in the Steve-ness of him. He’s so full of life, and the Steves out there are good guys."

And Rottenberg added: "But Miranda’s journey is representing another reality out there, which a lot of people go through—the reevaluations and transitions in life. Grown couples grow apart, and people come to epiphanies about what their spouse is or isn't fulfilling for them. Miranda's story was very representative of a certain path that a lot of women find themselves on."

"AJLT" will release its first season finale next Thursday on HBO Max.

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