And just like that — Samantha’s back.
The Post has learned that Kim Cattrall — who has famously feuded with former co-star Sarah Jessica Parker since she played sultry publicist Samantha Jones in “Sex and the City” and two sequel movies — recently filmed a “cliffhanger” scene for the upcoming Season 2 of the Max spinoff “And Just Like That…”
A spokesperson for Max — née HBO Max — exclusively confirmed her appearance to The Post.
In a shocking development, sources revealed that Cattrall, 66, made a hugely “hush-hush” cameo that left no paper trail to tip off show workers beforehand — her name never even appeared on a call sheet — leaving many people stunned behind the scenes.
An insider told The Post that show staffers were “definitely shocked, very intrigued on how they’re gonna write this in — and very excited,” they told The Post. “She said she’d never do it! She said she’d never come back!”
Details about Cattrall’s “completely” secretive appearance are slim, but an insider claimed that her scene was filmed in March in a town car in a parking garage near Silvercup Studios in Queens, where interiors for the series are shot.
The filming was so clandestine, Cattrall arrived in an SUV with blacked-out windows to help hide her down-low shoot from prying eyes.
Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall were the fab foursome who led the iconic “Sex and the City” franchise.©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett CollectionSeason 2 will premiere on the newly rechristened Max with 11 episodes on June 22 — coincidentally, or perhaps not, the same day Cattrall’s queer-themed Netflix series “Glamorous” makes its debut.
A third season of “And Just Like That” has not yet been confirmed.
A source told The Post that the show was planning a 10-episode second installment — which appropriately enough carries the tagline, “New beginnings are in season” — but that the series wound up splitting the finale into two parts.
“The fact that they’re keeping it very hush-hush says that there’s some implication that she might be coming back — not this season, but it’s definitely a cliffhanger that’s gonna get people to come back for Season 3,” an insider told The Post of Cattrall’s cameo.
Filming for Season 2’s New York scenes was completed on March 28, and some cast and crew then flew to Los Angeles to film other scenes there.
The Post has reached out to series creator Michael Patrick King, Cattrall and Parker for comment.
Fans will recall that “AJLT” writers unceremoniously — and off-camera — sent Samantha packing to London to run her PR business there in Season 1, leaving behind her lifelong friendships with Parker’s Carrie, Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda and Kristin Davis’ Charlotte.
Insiders told The Post that they were not certain whether fan-fave Samantha’s reappearance will take place in Britain or back in her old provocative playground that was NYC.
Cast and crew would have every reason to be caught off-guard by Cattrall’s stunning arrival: Cattrall has claimed that she “was never asked to be part of the reboot” in the first place.
Worse, she and Parker have served verbal volleys for years since the second sequel film was released in 2010.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall have seemingly kept their distance since the second “Sex and the City” movie.HBO; Everett CollectionTheir alleged feud seemingly kicked off when Cattrall said she dismissed starring in a third “Sex and the City” movie and suggested that she and her castmates “were never friends” and merely shared scenes together.
The situation appeared to worsen when Parker reached out to Cattrall on social media after the 2018 death of her brother.
“I don’t need your love or support at this tragic time @sarahjessicaparker,” responded Cattrall, who can be seen costarring with Robert DeNiro in the film “About My Father,” out Friday, May 26.
“Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona,” Cattrall shot back.
A 2009 New York magazine article, however, suggested that the two stars were already “no longer speaking” on the set of the 2010 sequel film.
“The common ground that we had was the series and the series is over,” Cattrall also told Piers Morgan in October 2017. “Sarah Jessica, she could have been nicer, she could have in some way. I don’t know what her issue is, I never have.”
Parker, however, has insisted that she was never unkind to Cattrall – nor was there bad blood between the two.
“I don’t have a disagreement with Kim [Cattrall], there’s no catfight,” she told The Post in 2018. “I’ve never said anything publicly, nor would I. I’ve only ever expressed admiration and gratitude for everything she contributed — and I still feel that way.”
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) last partied together in the 2010 sequel slick “Sex and the City 2.”©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett CollectionYet Cattrall outright dismissed — repeatedly — a full reunion of New York City’s most fabulous foursome.
“I went past the finish line playing Samantha Jones because I loved ‘Sex and the City.’ It was a blessing in so many ways but after the second movie I’d had enough,” she said in a 2019 interview. “I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just replace me with another actress instead of wasting time bullying.
“No means no,” she emphatically stated.
Even showrunner King seemingly put the lid on the pot when he nixed the idea of Cattrall returning for the spinoff, telling Variety in February 2022, “I have no realistic expectation of Kim Cattrall ever appearing again.”
However, in its Season 1 finale, the “SATC” spinoff teased a thawing of the frost between Samantha and Carrie — if not Cattrell and Parker — with the two texting and finally making plans to meet up for cocktails while Carrie was in Paris to spread late hubby Big’s (Chris Noth) ashes in the Seine river.
Parker’s Carrie left Big’s (Chris Noth) ashes in Paris in the emotional Season 1 finale for “And Just Like That.”HBO This isn’t Season 2’s only casting surprise.
In January, The Post was the first to report that John Corbett would reprise his role as Carrie’s ex-fiancé Aidan Shaw and was already filming scenes with Parker in Manhattan.
