'Sex and the City,' Gen Z and the advice Sarah Jessica Parker has for young women
- - 'Sex and the City,' Gen Z and the advice Sarah Jessica Parker has for young women
Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAYJanuary 28, 2026 at 6:02 AM
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Nearly 30 years after “Sex and the City” first aired, Carrie Bradshaw and her friends are still finding their way onto Gen Zer's screens. Young women are now posting TikTok confessionals about their own “Mr. Big,” even sharing videos and texts from their situationships, relating their own lives to the show and seeking advice from other viewers.
“It makes all of us very happy that there is this new generation that is watching and enjoying — or consuming — and maybe objecting to things about the show,” Sarah Jessica Parker says. “That’s the way it always was with our audience. We welcome their thoughts and feelings, and I personally am very touched to be part of their lives.”
The show’s resurgence speaks to how deeply its themes still resonate: love, ambition, friendship, and navigating relationships against an ever-evolving dating scene. But while Parker's character Carrie is known for dispensing advice in voiceovers and columns, Parker is far less comfortable in that role.
“I always loathe to give advice,” she says. “Everybody’s life is so different, and the things that they have available to them might be different for you than it is for someone else.”
Still, when asked, Parker offers one piece of it — one she admits is far from glamorous.
“Work hard,” she says. “Like, really, work hard.”
For Parker, that means being ready to learn, and exposing yourself to as many people, situations and ideas.
“You just cannot be the expert if you’re not really constantly watching and listening,” she says. “Any time I’ve had any success, it’s because I spent a lot of years listening, getting paid very little, working very hard, offering to do anything.”
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Parker wants Gen Z to have it all, but also be prepared for all of it. That means being ready to face and work through challenges, whether it be in the workplace or in personal relationships.
“Maintain a sensitivity to the world and to your own emotions, but also allow some things that are not comfortable,” she says.
“I’m not saying not safe,” she clarifies. “I’m saying not comfortable.”
Her greatest concern with Gen Z is that they may lose the ability to problem-solve. The ability to sit with complexity — rather than immediately rejecting it — is something Parker wants young people to lean into.
“I want you to have the professional life you want. I want you to have the personal life you want,” she says. “For some people, one is more important than the other. For some people, it’s the same. But I want you all to have situations that are complicated, and then you guys figure them out, not just condemn the complexity.”
If young people learn how to navigate these experiences, Parker imagines them becoming better bosses, mentors and employers when they are in the position to create the work environments.
"You can help a younger person figure out how to problem solve and how to talk to somebody who’s perhaps not treated them well, or that they’ve not treated well," she says.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Sex and the City' and the advice Sarah Jessica Parker has for Gen Z
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
