Okay, so I found myself with a bit of free time recently, you know how it is. Ended up deciding to revisit an old friend: Sex and the City. Just wanted some comfort viewing, something familiar.
I started watching, and pretty quickly, a familiar face would pop up in a guest spot. “Oh yeah,” I’d think, “I remember Matthew McConaughey was in an episode.” Easy enough. Then another one, maybe Jon Bon Jovi. Standard stuff for a big show, right? That’s what I thought. But then, things got a bit more… interesting.
I’d see someone in a tiny role, someone who looked vaguely familiar, and that little itch would start in my brain. “Hang on a second… was that…?” And down the rabbit hole I tumbled. What started as a casual rewatch turned into a full-blown investigation. I’m not even kidding. I actually started taking notes. My partner probably thought I’d finally lost it, muttering at the screen, rewinding constantly.
So, I armed myself with the remote, a notepad, and a stubborn determination. My mission: to catalogue these blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances. It wasn’t just about the already famous folks anymore. Oh no. It was about the “before they were stars” crowd, the musicians doing a weird acting gig, and the ones who were just… there.
The “Oh, THAT’S Who That Was!” Category
First, you get the ones who are big now, but back then? Not so much. Bradley Cooper, for instance. Barely a blip on the radar, in a quick scene with Carrie. If you weren’t looking, you’d completely miss him. Then there’s Justin Theroux. This guy actually showed up twice, as two different characters! First as Jared, one of Carrie’s writer buddies, and then later as Vaughn Wysel, another of her beaux. Sneaky. Kept me on my toes, that one did.
The Unexpected Musical Guests
Then you have the musicians trying their hand at acting. Alanis Morissette! I completely forgot she was in an episode, playing a character who ends up kissing Carrie at a party. Wild. Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, also made an appearance. It’s like a weird time capsule of early 2000s pop culture.
The “Seriously, Them?” Cameos
And then, there are the cameos that just make you go, “Huh?” Donald Trump, for example. Yep, before… well, before everything else, he was just another New York personality making a brief appearance in the background of some society event. It’s quite something to see now, looking back. There were also fashion designers, writers, all sorts of people milling about in the background or delivering a single line.
The Real Deep Dives
It became a proper obsession for a bit. I’d be squinting at crowd scenes, pausing on blurry faces in the background of coffee shops. “Is that… no, can’t be.” Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn’t. But the hunt was half the fun. It’s amazing who you can spot if you’re really looking. Some of these people were probably just local actors, or friends of the crew, who ended up in a shot and then went on to do other things, or nothing at all in the acting world.
So, what started as a simple plan to rewatch an old favorite turned into this whole archaeological dig. It took way more time than I anticipated, and my other shows definitely piled up on my watchlist. But honestly? It was kinda fascinating. Made me see the show in a whole new light, and I’ve got a pretty solid, if slightly unhinged, list of SATC cameos to show for it. You almost have to wonder if the casting directors had a crystal ball or just got incredibly lucky with some of their choices. Either way, it was a fun little project.
