Kristin Davis is opening up about the intense body image pressures she faced while filming HBO’s Sex and the City.
On the latest episode of her Are You a Charlotte? podcast, the actress, 60, reflected on navigating criticism about her appearance during the show’s 1998–2004 run.
She admitted to having what she called a ‘thinness issue’ at the height of the series’ success.
‘There were times when Sarah Jessica would be like, “You have body dysmorphia.” And I’d be like, I don’t think I do because the world is literally telling me daily that I am pear shaped,’ Davis said. ‘Like so much to the point where, like, you can’t think straight.’
The Emmy nominee said the criticism led to unhealthy habits.
‘But then you also have disordered eating. You’re starving yourself,’ she shared, recalling that she once fainted in a parking lot due to ‘some crazy diet’ she was on.
Kristin Davis is opening up about the intense body image pressures she faced while filming HBO’s Sex and the City; seen in 2003 with Sarah Jessica Parker
Davis went on to explain that her self-esteem, at the time, was also derailed by back-handed compliments from fans out in public.
‘There was a good number of years when… people would see me on the street and they would say, “Oh, but you’re not fat.” And I know they didn’t mean anything bad. They mean it as a compliment, right? But it’s because I’m standing next to Sarah Jessica. Or, “You’re prettier in person.” And I’m just like, well, okay.’
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While Davis is actually a few inches taller than her co-star — 5’6′ compared to Parker’s 5’3′ — she alluded that the comparisons had nothing to do with height and everything to do with how their bodies were perceived on screen.
‘There’s like a weird cynicism about our industry and about us that then permeates the thinking,’ she concluded.
In 2023, Davis confessed that it is difficult being ‘confronted with’ her ‘younger self at all times.’
‘It’s a challenge to remember that you don’t have to look like that. The internet wants you to — but they also don’t want you to. They’re very conflicted,’ she told The Telegraph.
She also reflected on how she has done fillers that have looked ‘good’ and some that haven’t over the years.
‘I’ve had to get them dissolved and I’ve been ridiculed relentlessly. And I have shed tears about it. It’s very stressful,’ Davis stated.
On the latest episode of her Are You a Charlotte? podcast, the actress reflected on navigating criticism about her appearance during the show’s 1998–2004 run (pictured in 2000)
She admitted to having what she called a ‘thinness issue’ at the height of the series’ success (pictured with the rest of the Sex and the City cast)
The actress also noted that ‘people personally blame’ performers ‘when it goes wrong’ versus ‘the doctor who did the work.’
‘No one told me it didn’t look good for the longest time,’ she added. ‘But, luckily I do have good friends, who did say eventually. The thing is you don’t smile at yourself in the mirror. Who smiles at themselves in the mirror? Crazy people.’
Since wrapping Sex and the City and, more recently, its spinoff And Just Like That, after three seasons, Davis has remained close friends with Parker.
In February, Davis revealed Parker ‘was going to put me on a dating app.’
‘Dating’s tough as a single mom. My friends feel that I should be dating, because life is short,’ she explained. ‘I’m like, “Sarah Jessica, I will kill you.’ I was like, ‘Do not!”‘
‘There were times when Sarah Jessica would be like, “You have body dysmorphia.” And I’d be like, I don’t think I do because the world is literally telling me daily that I am pear shaped,’ Davis said
Davis went on to explain that her self-esteem, at the time, was also derailed by back-handed compliments from fans out in public (seen in May 2025)
Despite Park’s attempt to make a profile for her, the star shut down the idea.
‘I just don’t meet that many people, I guess. And I’m super focused on the kids and it’s hard to date with the kids. I’ve tried. I mean, it’s tough,’ she said. ‘It’s not like I’m not open to it. I just don’t, I’m not actively pursuing it. Let’s put it that way. But you kind of, at some point, I guess you have to do [it].’
Davis adopted her daughter, Gemma Rose, in 2011, and son Wilson, in 2018.
While actively putting herself out there, the Deadly Illusions alum admitted ‘it never went well.’
Due to her Southern upbringing in South Carolina, Davis said she was ‘brought up to be kind of aggressively nice’ and that has given some men the wrong idea.
‘People don’t understand that and they’re confused,’ she said. ‘Like, why is this person being so nice to me? And in dating, that can be tough because then they think it’s a go and you’re just like, “No, what gave you that impression?”‘