HBO Max’s And Just Like That.. may have ended up being more of a horror show that planned, and one of those reasons ended up being the “Hey, It’s Che Diaz” memes that sprung up after Miranda Hobbes cheated on poor Steve Brady for the first time, in a kitchen (with Che Diaz, obv), while Carrie spilled pee on herself. ‘Twas perhaps meant to be, but it almost never happened.
Che was already planned to be on the show as Carrie’s podcasting boss, and presumably, as a stand-up comedian, but their role may not have been nearly as extensive. On the And Just Like That… documentary that aired after the show’s finale, Cynthia Nixon opened up about how we almost never really knew Che, at least not as the nonbinary narcissist who hissed, “I am reealllly good at sex.” Instead, Miranda almost ended up cheating on Steve with Dr. Nya Wallace, Miranda’s law professor who is straight and also unhappily married.
Cynthia described how she shut down this possibility from Showrunner Michael Patrick King, via Insider:
“So originally, when Michael was sort of trying to think about what would happen in our season, he talked about Nya, Miranda’s professor, being the romantic relationship… Nya was a straight character and Miranda’s a straight character and I was like, ‘That doesn’t sound very sexy at all.'” She said she didn’t like the idea of two middle-aged women “fumbling around,” both figuring out their sexuality at the same time.
She said she wondered why Miranda’s new love couldn’t be “this butch person that you’re talking about having for Carrie.”
Hmm. Nya was alright, but I don’t see the drama flying there, like it did with Che. And honestly, as much as Che swallowed up the curtains of every scene they encountered, this show needed that spicing up. Miranda and Nya would not have sparked any sort of social media controversy, which you arguably need for a show like this to be an object of discussion. This show didn’t arrive to be a “quiet triumph,” after all. Plus, we got a new villain for the ages, too. Maybe Che Diaz has some pluses? Just saying.
(Via Insider)
