In the space of six short years, ‘Sex And The City’ grew from a cult favourite to one of the most impactful and influential TV shows of the 20th century, and it definitely didn’t have to look far for celebrity guests to put in appearances.
By the time its sixth and final series aired in 2001, A-list stars were pretty much queuing up to land a role, either as one of the girls’ love interests or in a cameo appearance as themselves.
More interesting, though, is just how many of its supporting actors have gone on to make the big time much later on in their careers, after appearing for brief stints in ‘Sex And The City’.
Here are 15 of the big names whose ‘Sex And The City’ appearances might have passed you by…
Bradley Cooper
Loads of A-listers appeared in ‘Sex And The City’ during its six-series run, but Brad is one of the few who did it before making it big.
Here he is about to ruin Carrie’s night in ‘They Shoot Single People, Don’t They?’, by thrusting an unflattering photo on the cover of a magazine in her face.
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John Slattery
Years before ‘Mad Men’, John enjoyed a two-episode stint as a politician, who woos Carrie when the two of them judge a ‘hottest firemen’ competition on Statten Island.
Their relationship turns sour quickly, though, when he decides her sex column is bad for his image, and she decides she doesn’t want to urinate on him for sexual kicks.
A tale as old as time.
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Kat Dennings
Kat was just 14 years old when she made her TV debut in ‘Sex And The City’, playing Jenny Brier, a spoilt brat for whom Samantha helps plan a Bat Mitzvah.
Though the girls are initially envious of the teens’ confidence at such an early age (Miranda is jealous of her friend’s sapphire braces), they eventually learn an important lesson about how rewarding it is to work to get where you are.
And we all learned a lesson about the fabulousness of zebra-print leggings, judging from this photo.
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Justin Theroux
‘SATC’ bosses were clearly so impressed with Justin that they had him play two roles in the show.
In series one, he plays Jared, an obnoxious author Carrie flirts with at a party in a bid to make Mr Big jealous.
Two years later, he played Vaughn, a short story author whose family Carrie is really taken by, even though the man himself has his shortcomings (including, as Samantha would suggestively say, in the bedroom).
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Will Arnett
Four years before his big break in ‘Arrested Development’, Will’s first small screen role was as a romantic interest for Miranda in ‘SATC’, who enjoys having sex in places he can get caught (including his parents’ bed, as Miranda unwittingly discovers at the end of the episode).
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Vince Vaughn
In ‘Sex And Another City’, the girls take a trip to LA, where Carrie meets a man she’s led to believe is an agent. Turns out he’s actually a house-sitter.
Here’s the moment he gets rumbled by none other than the late, great Carrie Fisher, playing herself.
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Donald Trump
So, obviously this wasn’t before he became famous, but it was long before he made the jump from Trump Tower to the White House.
In ‘The Man, The Myth, The Viagra’, Trump is shown as a pal of Ed, the elderly man Samantha eventually takes to bed, before binning him off when she catches a glimpse of his bare bum.
She probably should have dumped him the minute she saw who his friends were, in hindsight.
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Elizabeth Banks
In ‘Politically Erect’, Elizabeth makes an ever so brief appearance as Catherine, so early in her career she’s actually billed as Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell.
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Bobby Cannavale
Now best known for his role in ‘Third Watch’, and as Will’s boyfriend in ‘Will And Grace’, there was a time when Bobby’s face was best known as the man with NOT OUR WORDS “funky-tasting spunk”.
Sigh.
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Carrie Preston
Now an Emmy-winner for her portrayal of Elsbeth in ‘The Good Wife’, Carrie also once played an interior decorator in ‘Sex And The City’, who stole Miranda’s love interest right from under her.
She did give her that sculpture of dancing frogs, though, so she wasn’t all bad.
Incidentally, Carrie Preston is also what lead ‘SATC’ character Carrie Bradshaw became known by after marrying Mr Big in the first film.
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Eddie Cahill
‘Sex And The City’ was Eddie’s very first TV credit in ‘Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl’. One of the most dated episodes of ‘SATC’, Carrie is visibly uncomfortable to learn the man she’s dating is bisexual. She does wind up kissing Alanis Morrissette later on, for reasons we’re still not totally clear about.
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Ron Livingston
You know what? Ron can do ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and he can do ‘Standoff’… but to be honest, whenever we see him, we’re just reminded that he broke up with Carrie on a Post-It.
Not here for it.
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Michelle Hurst
Thought Miss Claudette looked familiar when you watched ‘Orange Is The New Black’ for the first time?
You probably remember this scene, in which actress Michelle Hurst briefs Samantha, ahead of an STD check.
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Matthew Morrison
The ‘Glee’ actor’s ‘Sex And The City’ appearance literally was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it – he doesn’t even have any lines.
Instead, he plays a busboy in a restaurant where Carrie is trying to enjoy her own company and have a meal by herself.
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Geri Horner
Yeah, we know, this wasn’t before she was famous. We just like reminding ourselves that this happened, to be honest.
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