Meet Mr. Big

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July 2001

It has never been explained on “Sex and the City” why his character is named Mr. Big. Actor Chris Noth has a vague idea. Get your mind out of the gutter. “You know those love scenes on the show? All I see is my 40-year-old butt,” Noth jokes. “Now THAT’S pretty big.”

Actually, Noth the actor is big these days. He is in the midst of the fourth season on the hit HBO series and has upcoming roles in two fall movies, “The Glass House” and “Double Whammy.”

This season on the TV series, his devastatingly charming, unfaithful boyfriend character Mr. Big gets a bit of a shock when his on-screen girlfriend, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, finally comes to terms with their relationship.

“This season is devoted to examining our feelings a little deeper,” says Sarah Jessica Parker, who is Noth’s main squeeze Carrie on the show. “The women are getting older. We can’t keep hopping in and out of bed with no consequences.”

Does that mean curtains for Mr. Big?

“New York could not exist for Carrie without Mr. Big,” Parker says coyly. That’s fine with 46-year-old actor Noth, who begins an interview by asking the female journalist for a quick pardon. “I know Mr. Big has been a bit of a creep to Carrie on the show, but please don’t put me on trial here,” he says, calling from his own New York bachelor pad. “I am not the character.”

“I get asked all the time by p (d-off women, “‘Why can’t this guy Big commit?

Why is he such a heel?”‘ Noth says. Because he’s a creep? Because we want to change him? It’s just a suggestion.

After all, the Mr. Big character dated and mated with Carrie, but then dumped her to marry a young society princess. Upset that his new wife painted his entire apartment “boring beige,” he then embarked on an affair with Carrie (until his wife found out and divorced him). As last season ended, the Mr. Big/Carrie relationship was one big question mark.

“No one ever takes my side,” Noth says with a sigh. He is happy to explain his position on all these love and lust matters.

“This is the way I see it. Big is old enough to have been through a lot. He knows his own perimeters. Mr Big says, “‘There it is. Do you want to play in my sandbox or not?”‘

Obviously, a lot of women want to grab a pail and shovel. Noth first became a sex symbol as Mike Logan for several seasons on NBC’s “Law and Order” (1989-95). But when he stopped playing cop and started copping some sexy stances on “Sex and the City” in 1998, Noth became someone who is stopped on the streets.

Women adore him. “It hasn’t gotten to the point where women have come up, thrown a glass of wine in my face and screamed, “‘You bastard!”‘ Noth says. “Then again, I don’t allow myself to be in situations where strangers can be dramatic with me about entertainment. But I do get regular women off the street coming up to say, “‘How could you?’”

Noth says, “Of course, the wine thing has happened in real life, but let’s not get into my personal life, for God’s sake.” Oh, let us delve a bit. Noth, who is unmarried, used to date supermodel Beverly Johnson. A friendly smooch with Winona Ryder last year made worldwide headlines.

“We are not getting into my love life,” he says. “But since women ask me about male motives all the time, I can offer a bit of advice. If you feel like you’re going to get hurt then you shouldn’t be there in the first place. That’s the way I look at relationships.”

Noth says he does not have the same commitment issues as Mr. Big. “People are so phobic and crazed about this word commitment. It’s weird. Everyone has taken this word to a new height of morality. I remember when I was a little kid in the late “‘60s. People never discussed commitment.

We talked about politics and world events and free love. You know what I mean? Now everything boils down to the “‘C’ word. It’s weird to me.” Forget Dr. Ruth. Never mind Dr. Laura. Introducing Chris Noth, relationship guru? Does he feel that women are from Venus and men from Mars? And will the sexes ever be able to reach some common ground? Noth scoffs, “I think it’s dangerous for me to try to give any kind of statement on such a huge topic. Please. I’ll sound like a huge idiot. And I’ve been reading the few interviews I’ve given. I see them and I want to vomit. I cannot explain something that no one has ever figured out.” He sighs.

“We want to find a quick and easy solution to love like they offer in Cosmo magazine. We want to solve our lives in an article titled “‘How to Please Your Man and Keep Him Happy.’ Please!” Noth screams. “Nothing is quick and easy in this life.”

Stardom hasn’t been quick or easy for him. And now that he’s finally getting some attention with the series, movies like “Cast Away” (2000) and the recent NBC TV movie “The Judge,” Noth is the first one to run and hide.

“I don’t do a hell of a lot of publicity. I find it nauseous. I feel like a blithering idiot and your friends are laughing at you,” he says. “Basically, I don’t want people to know about me. Life is too interesting to be simplified in a People magazine article. That’s pathetic.”

Connecticut-native Noth grew up around journalism because his mom was a reporter for CBS-TV in the 1960s. Noth’s father died when he was a baby and his mother took her sons with her to England, Yugoslavia and Spain for work. “I drove my mom nuts. She would be interviewing a world leader and get the call, “‘Hi, this is Chris’ principal. You better get over here. Your son is out of control,”‘ he says, laughing. “At home, my brother and I would swipe the keys to mom’s car. It was joy riding with the boys. I grew my hair down to the middle of my back and hung out in the woods. I tried to play guitar. I was a little rebel.”

He found acting at Marlboro College, where he also studied literature and religion. “There was this rep company on campus,” he recalls. “And I started doing these great plays. It was a really beautiful time in my life. So I jumped into acting because it was fun,” he says. “It was tougher when I had to take my fun seriously.”

Noth ended up working at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and studied his craft with Stella Adler. Four years of New York theater led to being accepted at Yale School of Drama. After graduation, Noth made his trek to Hollywood. His big break was on the NBC-TV series “Law and Order.” “It was like a five-year prison sentence,” Noth admits. Basically, he was bored with playing cop. “I tend to obsess about whatever I’m doing and squeeze out the last bit of juice from something until I have to leave it, and until there is nothing interesting about it. And if you’re an actor in your heart, no matter how much money they shove at you, it doesn’t matter if the work doesn’t provide that creative spark. You want out. I would say by my third year of “‘Law and Order’ I was climbing the walls. But you also don’t leave a hit show, especially when you have a five-year contract.”

After he was sprung from the series, Noth spent two years doing TV movies before he got the call to have some “Sex.” The actual sex scenes on the show do not please him.

“Yeah, I workout, but people have already seen I have a gut. I mean, what am I going to do? I’m in my 40s. I play a lot of basketball. You know what? I don’t really care what people think of my body.”

As for acting out all this lust, Noth looks at these scenes with a yawn. “Everyone knows that sex scenes are pretty boring. The good part is that Sarah Jessica and I know each other. We’re not embarrassed with each other. She’s conservative. And so am I. You will never see us doing any porn moves. It’s just enough to suggest it. I think the whole thing of being literal is ridiculous.”

As for plot secrets for this season, Noth won’t divulge anything. There have been hints that he should engage in some on-screen dating with one of the other series regulars.

One wonders who his type is? Career-driven Miranda? Demure girl Charlotte? Sex queen Samantha? Or, conflicted Carrie? “Oh, don’t make me choose!” Noth implores. “I’d want someone with all of their qualities. But I have to say Carrie appeals to me the most because I love Sarah Jessica Parker. She makes me laugh.”

“Honestly, I don’t know why the hell Big didn’t marry her. Chris Noth would have been down on one knee proposing,” he says. “I don’t mind demanding women.”

Parker has one demand of her own. “Someday when the series ends, I want it to be Carrie and Mr. Big looking deeply into each other’s eyes. And then Carrie says, “‘By the way, what is your first name?”‘

Cindy Pearlman is a columnist for the Sun Times. She can be reached at [email protected]

 

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