Inside Kim Cattrall’s low-key life within the UK
- The Sex and the City actress, 67, spends much of her time in the UK nowadays
She might have left Sex and the City behind her, but Kim Cattrall certainly isn’t missing out in life.
The Hollywood actress, 67, has long waved goodbye to her most well-known character, the formidable, sex-positive Samantha Jones which won her millions of fans around the world.
She decided not to reunite with her SATC co-stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon for the series reboot, And Just Like That (bar a fabulous cameo appearance in the final episode of series two).
Instead, Liverpool-born Cattrall is adopting the phrase that sent her viral in 2019 during an interview with the Guardian: ‘I don’t want to be in a situation for even an hour where I’m not enjoying myself’ – and if her social media accounts are anything to go by, she’s now making the most of every second in what appears to be a much lower-key lifestyle than the bright lights of New York City.
She now lives with her partner, BBC sound engineer Russell Thomas, and the pair split their time between their homes in Vancouver Island and the UK – where she’s now set to take a starring role in a new BBC Radio 4 drama.
Kim Cattrall, 67, who was born in Liverpool, raised in Canada and who also holds US citizenship, enjoys life to the full since stepping away from SATC
Cattrall burst onto the scene in the 1980s, starring in films including Police Academy and Mannequin; before making her big break in Sex and the City in 1997.
She played the groundbreaking Samantha Jones, a high-powered PR executive who loved sex and didn’t want to be bogged down by a relationship; a type of female character who had never been broadcast on television before.
Glamorous and feisty in equal measure, Samantha became a firm favourite on the series as fans fell in love with the character and the actress who played her – but behind the scenes, reports emerged of a rift among the cast over salary.
Notably, she engaged in tough negotiations with executives over the fee she would be paid to join the cast for the first Sex and the City film.
Kim now lives with her British partner Russell Thomas, whom she met when she wrote a monologue for BBC Woman’s Hour (pictured at Sandringham, Norfolk)
Cattrall soaks up the very best of the UK during her time here, and this year enjoyed a quintessentially British day out at Wimbledon
Cattrall is perhaps best known for playing the independent, high-powered and sex positive Samantha Jones in Sex and the City (pictured in the first film)
Speaking to the Guardian in 2011, she addressed the reports over her salary dispute (which she ended up fighting alone when Nixon and Davis decided to stick with what they had been offered) but stressed she didn’t like speaking about the stand-off because it was often framed as a ‘catfight’ between women.
‘And it really wasn’t that – it was about standing up for something that I felt belonged to all of us,’ she insisted.
In more recent years Cattrall has been drawn occasionally on the rumours, telling Piers Morgan in 2017: ‘We’ve never been friends – we’ve been colleagues. And in some ways that’s a very healthy place to be, as you have a clear line between your professional life, and your personal, too.’
Since then, she has left any drama behind her and instead enjoys the important things in life.
Speaking to the Guardian, the actress said: ‘I want to choose who I spend time with personally and professionally. It’s my life.’
She added, of her character Samantha, that she ‘loved’ her time on SATC but had ‘had enough’ by the end of the second movie.
Cattrall and her partner Russell spend their time in the UK making the most of what the nation has to offer (pictured at Wimbledon last month)
Cattrall is an ambassador for Kew Gardens, a place she clearly holds dear as she often visits and attends fundraising events for the botanical gardens
As she takes on her new role as Eloise Page in Central Intelligence, a BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds drama about the formation of America’s CIA, she will no doubt be spending more time in the UK; a place where she was born to two Liverpudlian parents.
When she was five years old, her mother and father moved to Canada, where she was raised (although she did return to the UK for a year when she was 11 years old). She has previously described her parents as ‘scousers’ and ‘grafters’.
Cattrall has also revealed how her grandmother abandoned her grandfather and her mother which left them in poverty. She said it influenced her drive to inspire other people by telling difficult stories in her acting career.
The actress’s father died 13 years ago after a battle with Alzheimer’s, while her mother passed away in 2022.
A Briton by birth and heritage, Cattrall has never made a secret of her love of the UK, describing herself as ‘proudly’ Liverpudlian in the same interview with Morgan. And since getting together with her British partner eight years ago after he edited her monologue on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, she spends much of her time here.
Speaking to the Times last year, she revealed how she and Russell watched the King’s Coronation together last year; which she ‘loved’.
‘Let’s face it, no one does it better,’ she said.
Asked if she was a royalist, Cattrall replied: ‘Absolutely. My father was an officer in the King’s Regiment and growing up I remember him saying, ‘I would take the bullet for the Queen.’ I was very impressed by the chivalry.’
Cattrall has firmly ruled out rejoining her Sex and the City cast for their new series, And Just Like That – however she delighted fans with a cameo as the ever-fabulous Samantha Jones at the end of series two
Cattrall was reported to have been in a salary dispute with executives regarding her reprisal of Samantha Jones for the Sex and the City movie
She added, in conversation with PEOPLE, that she and Russell begin every day with a cup of English breakfast tea.
Cattrall’s love of the royal family appears to come across on her Instagram account, where she has recently visited the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk with Russell.
Earlier this summer she posted a snap of herself, rocking understated chic in a baseball cap, shirt, jumper and jeans, with her arms around Russell while they beamed in a picturesque setting from the estate.
She appears to spend plenty of time in Norfolk; also visiting an owl sanctuary in the east of England last year.
In November, she posted snaps of herself and Russell holding owls at the Happisburgh sanctuary, while thanking the staff for the visit.
She praised the ‘beautiful, friendly owls’ as she encouraged her fans to also pay them a visit.
When she’s not in Norfolk, or her birth city of Liverpool, Kim enjoys spending her time in the UK in London, visiting various attractions including art galleries.
She is an ambassador for Kew Gardens in south west London, and loves visiting the site with Russell.
In 2021, she and Russell enjoyed a Christmas trip to the Richmond tourist attraction, where they visited the festive light show.
And just a few months ago, the pair went back to the botanical gardens where they spent an evening attending an event hosted by the World Monuments Fund.
‘A wonderful memorable evening under the Palms,’ she wrote in the caption of a series of snaps of herself and Russell at the event.
And, of course, no quintessentially British lifestyle would be truly complete without frequent trips to SW19 – with the actress visiting Wimbledon this summer with Russell.
She mastered the dress code of the UK’s most stylish sporting event, arriving in a pink suit paired with a floral shirt, strappy sandals and cool shades.
As Cattrall settles into spending more time in the UK for her new role, she will no doubt be connecting even more deeply with her British roots.
Speaking to The Times, she said: ‘It’s a nice life. And I’m very grateful for that.’
