When Sarita Choudhury joined the cast of “And Just Like That …” in 2021 as Seema Patel, she said the role initially felt “bigger” than her.
But three seasons into the show, a revival of “Sex and the City” on HBO Max, the actress has found herself much more settled in playing the glamorous, sex-positive real estate broker who steals scenes in sophisticated neutrals, gesticulates with cigarettes and dons old-Hollywood head scarves.
“Just like I grew into playing Seema, Seema also has grown through mistakes, through hanging out with Carrie and being free within her power,” said Ms. Choudhury, referring to Carrie Bradshaw, the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
While she has always taken it as a compliment that Seema reminds viewers of the original series’ sexually liberated Samantha Jones (played by Kim Cattrall), Ms. Choudhury believes Seema has carved her own lane. “Her ability to dive into, whether it’s an affair or a quick advice, is similar,” she said. “But apart from that, I find them very different.”
In the new season of “And Just Like That …,” which premieres Thursday, she said she is looking forward to more “character growth” emerging in Seema’s arc.
Ms. Choudhury, 58, was born in London to English and Bengali-Indian parents. Growing up, she lived in Jamaica and Italy before studying economics and film at Queen’s University in Canada.
In 1991, she made her feature film debut opposite Denzel Washington in the romantic drama “Mississippi Masala.” She has also starred in the “Hunger Games” franchise, the Showtime series “Homeland” and the medieval fantasy film “The Green Knight.”
Ms. Choudhury lives in an apartment in Brooklyn with her daughter.
TEATIME When I’m working, I wake up at 4 a.m., but when I’m not working, I would say 9:30 a.m. The first thing I do when I get up is make a cup of tea. Because I’m half-British, it’s always strong British tea, PG Tips. There’s a British store that sells them.
THEN COFFEE I always have coffee around 11 a.m. because I call my mom on the walk to coffee. She lives in India. Because of the time difference, I have a very narrow window. I go to the same coffee shop I have been going to for 20 years, Marlow & Sons, and it just closed a few weeks ago.
ON THE ROCKS In my building, there’s two or three people, and we text each other. We all meet every day, whoever’s not working. We have coffee on the rocks with my friends from a place called Ants. We sit there until we figure out where we’re going to go next. Because Marlow & Sons just closed, we still end up going to sit there a lot of the time.
SELF-CARE Because it’s Sunday, acupuncture is at 2:15 p.m. I get on a Citi Bike near the coffee shop, and I bike to the L train if it’s in service. I take it two stops into the city near 14th Street, and the same person I’ve been going to for 19 years. He’s my everything: Zuo Zhong Ye. He’s an instructor at the Pacific College of traditional Chinese medicine, so he only sees normal people on Wednesdays and Sundays.
AFTERNOON NAP Apart from the healing they do with you, I sleep deeply for that hour. When I come out of it, I literally don’t remember where I am, and that has been so helpful with my work. I spend an hour there, then I come out a bit out of it, a bit of an airy feeling.
A TASTE OF ITALY I walk around a bit dazed. There’s a cafe-restaurant called Epistrophy. When my daughter was born, I’d have her in the stroller. It’s kind of awkward when they’re very small, where you can go and hang out. I grew up in Italy, and they’re all Italian, and they were so lovely to me. They were like: “You can stay as long as you want. Don’t worry.” They became like a family, and I would visit them in Sardinia. We became very close. So, sometimes I just take that walk, and if they’re free, the owners, I have a bite to eat with them on a Sunday.
GIRLS’ NIGHT It was like 5:45 p.m. I went to meet Nicole Ari Parker from the show. We’re heading into so much press, I was like, “I need just a moment.” We went to the West Village to a place called Bar Pisellino, which we love. We always get egg sandwiches, like tea sandwiches. Simple, simple.
WINE DOWN My new favorite thing is orange wine or a pét-nat version of that. There’s a place called Sauced that I love. They let you taste all the stuff. They have buckets of different bottles with the most beautiful orange and slightly red orange, so sometimes I’ll go there.
FOREIGN FILMS Around 10 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. on Criterion I type in “Japanese films.” I’ve been on Criterion a lot recently. I just was in Italy. I speak Italian, but I’ve never filmed in Italian. I did my first Italian role. So, before I went there, I was watching only Italian movies. I’ve watched so much on Criterion that I have to look elsewhere sometimes.
SMOOTH SKIN I have a shower, lie in bed. If I’ve been to acupuncture, I need so little, but I do some form of oil. I’ll just pat it on after washing my face, and let it seep in during the night.
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