Matthew Broderick Reveals Why He Never Appeared on ‘Sex and the City’

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker got married in 1997, the year before Sex and the City premiered on HBO. But as Parker’s fame soared to new heights with the critically acclaimed comedy series, her husband never joined her on the show.

In an appearance on This Life of Mine With James Corden on SiriusXM, Broderick, 62, explained why he was never on Sex and the City, despite being asked.

“Whenever there was a part that I could do, I couldn’t do it is really all that happened,” he said. “But also sometimes, it was like, ‘Do you want to do two days as the premature ejaculator?’ And I’d be like, ‘You know, I don’t know, it’s just kind of embarrassing.’”

The Ferris Bueller’s Day Off actor added that he recognized that Carrie Bradshaw was Parker’s defining role at the time, which she later reprised in the franchise’s two movies and sequel series, And Just Like That.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick Are Couple Goals at Ballet Gala

“That was her thing, and that would be stunting me or something, I don’t know,” he continued. “It just never worked out. I love that show and I would have been delighted to be in it, but it just never lined up right.”

That’s not to say Broderick was completely absent from the Sex and the City set. In a 2020 New York Times profile, Parker, now 59, recalled how nervous she used to get when her husband would show up while she was filming.

“Like, ‘Matthew’s here! Don’t look at me!’” she said, adding, “It’s all so embarrassing. … [I’m] getting hives just thinking about [Matthew being on set].”

Broderick and Parker met in 1991 and welcomed son James, 21, in 2002. They also share twins Marion and Tabitha, 15, whom they had via surrogate in 2009. Parker spoke about their long-lasting relationship in 2011, reminding fans that it has the same ups and downs as any marriage.

The 10 Most Essential Episodes of ‘Sex and the City’ to Watch on Netflix

“We’ve been together for 20 years and you have good days, you have decent days, and you have bad days. That’s a marriage,” she told The Telegraph. “That’s a relationship. That’s a friendship, even — relationships outside the marriage run the same course.”

Parker continued: “If you’re in it for the long haul and you want meaningful relationships, you are going to go through lots of different periods.”

Together now for almost 33 years, Parker and Broderick are certainly in it “for the long haul.” But Broderick still looks back at Sex and the City and wonders what could have been.

“I wish that I had done it or been in it,” he said.