Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis are pretty bummed that Kim Cattrall's And Just Like That cameo leaked

The world stood still when it was revealed that Samantha Jones was returning to the world of Sex And The City. Kim Cattrall had steadfastly resisted the revival, And Just Like That…, and in fact was (and still is?) feuding with star Sarah Jessica Parker. Yet the powers that be somehow managed to reach a deal to film a very brief, isolated cameo with Cattrall for the upcoming season, causing fans everywhere to rejoice. But not everyone was thrilled when the news broke.

“It’s such a bummer that the cat got outta the bag and that it was leaked, ‘cause we went to so many lengths to try to hide it. The thing that we were also really excited about was to have nobody be expecting Samantha and then have her pop in,” executive producer and star Cynthia Nixon tells Entertainment Weekly in a new interview. “I just hope it’s not just a tremendous anti-climax, to be frank.”

Samantha’s return is relegated to a single phone call with Carrie, so the anti-climax fear is valid. “Now that [fans] know about it, it seems like this very large thing, but it’s not really a very large thing,” says co-star and co-EP Kristin Davis. “So I’m hoping that people are happy.”

The actors acknowledge that there’s been a lot of clamor for the character (“The fans love Samantha. Samantha’s a fantastic character. We get it,” says Davis), and that the cameo felt appropriate since this year marks SATC’s 25th anniversary. But it also fits in with the story And Just Like That… has crafted for the character, in which the two former best friends have had a falling out and Samantha has moved abroad.

“Sometimes people aren’t in your life every day, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not connected,” Davis explains. “I can’t give anything else away about the story, ’cause we’re trying to keep what secrets are left secret, but it makes sense for the circumstance that it’s in.”