And Simply Like That Creator Advised John Corbett to Lose Weight Earlier than Returning as Aidan

New hair, similar coronary heart. Aidan is again on And Simply Like That, and whereas John Corbett’s weight reduction, haircut, and lack of turquoise jewellery could also be noticeable to Carrie and Intercourse and the Metropolis followers, the franchise’s creators have a very good purpose story-wise for his bodily transformation.

Aidan Shaw, performed by Corbett, was launched in Season 3 of Intercourse and the Metropolis—HBO’s comedy collection following the love lives of 4 finest buddies in New York Metropolis—as Carrie Bradshaw’s first severe boyfriend after her breakup with Large. Carrie and aidan broke up on the finish of the season earlier than getting again collectively in Season 4 and breaking apart once more. Carrie and Aidan bumped into one another in Season 6, Episode 1, “To Mark to Market,” the place Aidan revealed that he was married and had a son named Tate. The episode was Aidan’s final look on Intercourse and the Metropolis. Nevertheless, he later appeared in 2010’s Intercourse and the Metropolis 2, when Carrie runs into him whereas on trip in Abu Dhabi. 

Greater than a decade later, Aidan got here again to the Intercourse and the Metropolis universe in Season 2 of And Simply Like That—a reboot of Intercourse and the Metropolis—after Carrie emails him and the 2 agree to satisfy up for a date. “I used to be particularly excited, in all probability largely, as a result of I simply love working with John Corbett a lot,” Sarah Jessica Parker, who performs Carrie, advised The Wrap in July 2023.“We simply suppose he’s very particular and brings a lot extra—at all times—than what’s even written.”

She continued, “I might simply acknowledge and perceive that the Carrie-Aidan relationship is worthy of revisiting and that they could discover each other once more, provided that Carrie is now single and that relationship was essential and possibly ended not in a really perfect manner.” 

As Carrie (and viewers) discover in And Simply Like That Season 2, Aidan appears to be like so much completely different than when he was on Intercourse and the Metropolis—and that wasn’t a coincidence, in line with the creators. Learn on for the way Intercourse and the Metropolis’s writers wrote in John Corbett’s weight reduction in And Simply Like That, and the way his bodily transformation performed a job in Carrie and Aidan’s relationship. 

John Corbett’s weight reduction in And Simply Like That defined 

John Corbett’s weight reduction in And Simply Like That was defined by showrunner Michael Patrick King in an interview on the podcast, “And Simply Like That… The Writers Room” in July 2023. On the podcast, King defined that And Simply Like That author Julie Rottenberg wasn’t a fan at first of Aidan returning to And Simply Like That after showing in a visitor position in Intercourse and the Metropolis Season 6 and once more within the Intercourse and the Metropolis 2 film. “She was nervous about re-trod turf and needed to say, ‘Haven’t we already performed him?’” King stated. 

Rottenberg additionally shared her concern about Aidan’s type and the way it could match into Carrie’s world in And Simply Like That Season 2. King agreed with Rottenberg’s issues, and shared them with Corbett, who was consuming fried hen on the time King launched the concept of Aidan’s return. King advised Corbett that, to ensure that Aidan to return to And Simply Like That, he wanted to be “rock-hard,” which led to Aidan’s physique transformation. “We gave John a makeover. We lower his hair, we took the turquoise jewellery away. We advised him he needed to be rock-hard when he got here again,” King stated. “It was a narrative selection: If we’re bringing any person again, we’ve to seek out some strategy to deliver him again in a brand new manner.” He continued, “So right here we at the moment are, bringing Aidan again, once more, and we’ve tips up our sleeves as to how he’s new and what we are able to truly do with the storyline contemplating — and it’s a really large think about — all of the water below the bridge, all of the ache they’ve already been via, how a lot Carrie has harm him prior to now — in line with fan boards… twice — and the way badly he took the break up.”

King additionally confirmed that Corbett was on board with Aidan’s bodily transformation. “No, it’s true. I stated it to John; John is aware of,” King stated. “He was consuming fried hen once I advised him, and he dropped the fried hen on the plate and fell down within the sales space that we have been sitting in and stated, ‘I knew I used to be a fatty.’” He continued, “Then he got here again rock onerous with quick hair.” King additionally clarified that Corbett’s weight reduction wasn’t for “aesthetic” causes however to drive the storyline between Aidan and Carrie. “It’s not an aesthetic selection to return again in a different way, as a result of I assumed he was perfection; it was a narrative selection,” he stated.

And Simply Like That author Elisa Zuritsky additionally defended King’s selection on the poddcast to have Corbett shed weight for the position of Aidan. “I simply wish to give Michael Patrick King props,” she stated. “You is likely to be among the many few showrunners who truly clamp down on males to hit the health club and truly put just a little stress on their look, which most ladies would say tends to fall onto feminine laps.” King added, “As I say, we’ve flipped the change on this present!”

The And Simply Like That author’s workforce additionally revealed on the podcast that they didn’t think about bringing Aidan again in Season 1, even after Corbett’s joke to Web page Six in 2022 he can be in a “few episodes” in Season 1. “I’m going to do the present,” he stated on the time, including that the return was “very thrilling” for him. He continued, “I believe I is likely to be in fairly a couple of. I like all these individuals, they’ve been very good to me,” Through the podcast, King and Rottenberg defined that the author’s room by no means thought of bringing Aidan again in Season 1 due to Carrie’s relationship with Large. “There was no manner he would ever exist in Carrie’s thoughts,” King stated of Carrie’s frame of mind after the loss of life of Large. Rottenberg continued, “I believe if Large hadn’t died, I don’t suppose she ever would have reached out to [Aidan] once more.”

King defined that Carrie’s mindstate was completely different in And Simply Like That Season 2, which opened the door for Aidan’s return. “The tone instantly needs to be completely different to individuals. Carrie is like, ‘I wish to go on a date with him.’ Proper up entrance. She’s not downplaying it. She’s like, ‘I stated sure to the date. I knew it was Valentine’s Day. I wish to have a date with him,’” he stated. “Carrie factors out within the scene that it’s been 13 years since she’s even seen Aidan. Which is form of surprising to consider the stuff we’re about to drag off, which is John Corbett, Sarah Jessica in a scene after [13] years of an absence. That by no means occurs, as a result of nobody performs a personality for 25 years. Sarah Jessica did.”

Rottenberg additionally defined on the podcast why it made sense to deliver Aidan again in And Simply Like That Season 2 as a substitute of Season 1. “Within the dialogue about bringing Aidan again for Season 2 of And Simply Like That, for me it needed to be about what would actually occur and I consider it. I believe that’s what occurs after we are older, particularly after a tragedy like Carrie has suffered,” she stated. “Let’s face it: You’ve gotten fewer and fewer actually powerfully robust individuals in your life who’ve identified you for a very long time. So I consider that she would have reached out to him.”

And Simply Like That isn’t the primary time Corbett has been requested to shed weight within the Intercourse and the Metropolis universe. In an interview with E! Information in 2013, Intercourse and the Metropolis govt producer Amy B. Harris revealed that Corbett was additionally requested to shed weight in between Seasons 3 and 4 of the collection. “We advised Corbett to shed weight between seasons three and 4,” Harris stated. “After we talked about whether or not or not we needed to see John come again, we principally stated we wish him to return again so scorching that she can not consider it. Like, he appears to be like so significantly better after she left him. And we made him shed weight. After which we made Chris shed weight for the film.”

She continued, “It’s hilarious. The ladies have been, like, perfection, and nobody ever talked about something about their weight ever. It was simply the 2 guys! I believe the ladies have been simply predisposed to be fortunate and didn’t have to fret.”

And Simply Like That is accessible to stream on Max. Right here’s tips on how to watch it without spending a dime.

For extra about And Simply Like That and Intercourse and the Metropolis, learn HBO’s official companion e book, Intercourse and the Metropolis: Kiss and Inform. The e book, written by courting columnist and screenwriter Amy Sohn, is crammed with behind-the-scenes secrets and techniques from Intercourse and the Metropolis‘s six seasons and particulars on the real-life tales that impressed the present’s surprising episodes. The e book additionally consists of 750 full-color images from filming the collection, in addition to an introduction written by none aside from Sarah Jessica Parker. With enjoyable details on what number of dates Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda actually went on to never-been-told secrets and techniques about Carrie’s most outrageous (and fabulous) outfits, Intercourse and the Metropolis: Kiss and Inform is a must-read for any SATC superfan.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to deliver type to the individuals, and we solely characteristic merchandise we predict you’ll love as a lot as we do. Please be aware that if you are going to buy one thing by clicking on a hyperlink inside this story, we might obtain a small fee of the sale.