Sarah Jessica Parker: 'My Divorce character is nothing like Carrie Bradshaw'

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker insists there are major distinctions between her new show Divorce and her classic series Sex and the City.

The 51-year-old star famously played character Carrie Bradshaw for six seasons in the hit HBO network romcom until its conclusion in 2004 and she is returning to the channel to portray divorcee Frances in upcoming comedy Divorce, a show about a feuding New York City couple engaged in a conflict-laden and ridiculously long separation process.

However, even though both programmes are based in the Big Apple and address relationship problems in the plotline, Sarah claims her new persona isn't anything like Sex and the City's Carrie.

“I don’t think that we actually talked a lot about trying to make her different, I think this story is different,” she revealed while speaking on a Television Critics Association summer press tour panel on Saturday (30Jul16). “I was always interested in the story of marriage, and by virtue of that interest alone it was automatically different."

However, Parker admits when it came to the topic of fashion, a conversation was had with producers and costume department personnel to ensure her Frances character would dress nothing like Carrie Bradshaw, a character whose style became iconic with Sex and the City fans. In fact, her Divorce persona Frances dresses nothing like the effortlessly quirky and chic Carrie, because most of Frances' clothes are vintage hand-me-downs from thrift stores.

"The only time we were cognizant of distinction was when we started talking about the wardrobe," she notes. "I think Frances was so much her own person from the moment I read the pilot, she was so distinct from not only Carrie but any character I’ve ever played.”

Parker's fresh programme Divorce will premiere in the U.S. this fall (9Oct16).