Rosie O’Donnell Says Filming Sex Scene with Cynthia Nixon in “And Just Like That… ”Was ‘Horrifying’
Rosie O’Donnell Says Filming Sex Scene with Cynthia Nixon in “And Just Like That… ”Was ‘Horrifying’
Yamillah HurtadoTue, August 11, 2026 at 11:41 PM UTC
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Cynthia Nixon and Rosie O’DonnellCredit: Craig Blankenhorn/Max -
Rosie O’Donnell opens up about her experience filming her And Just Like That… sex scene with longtime friend Cynthia Nixon
“[It was] horrifying for me,” the comedian told Amy Poehler on the Tuesday, Aug. 11 episode of the Good Hang podcast
O’Donnell guest-starred as a nun who breaks her chastity vow and loses her virginity to Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes in the first episode of the Sex and the City spinoff’s third season
Rosie O’Donnell gets candid about her experience filming her And Just Like That…sex scene with her longtime friend Cynthia Nixon.
O’Donnell, 64, guest-starred in the first episode of the third and final season of the Sex and the City spinoff series as Sister Mary, a nun who breaks her chastity vow and loses her virginity to Miranda Hobbes (Nixon), whom she meets at a lesbian bar while visiting New York City.
During her appearance on the Tuesday, Aug. 11 episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hangpodcast, the comedian shared that the experience of filming the intimate scene with her good friend was “horrifying.”
Cynthia Nixon and Rosie O’Donnell on ‘And Just Like That...’Credit: HBO Max
“I was so nervous,” O’Donnell said. “The kissing wasn’t hard, but the laying in bed and the wanting us to act like we had just done it. I was like, ‘Uhh.’ But I’m a little immature when it comes to that.” Poehler responded, “I don’t even think that’s immature. I’ve talked to a lot of my friends who have to do intimate scenes, and it’s a skill.” O’Donnell agreed, saying, “It’s a skill. It really is.”
The former television host revealed that when she first signed on to appear alongside Nixon, 60, on And Just Like That…, she had no idea what type of scene it was. “First of all, I love her. Like, I love her. I have so much respect for her,” O’Donnell said of the Ratchedactress.
“She called me, and she’s like, ‘Ro, Michael Patrick [King] wrote you a scene, and it’s with me. Will you do it?’ I said, ‘Of course I’ll do it with you,’” she explained. “Then, I read it, and I’m in bed with just the sheets. I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’”
O’Donnell told Poehler that the only other sex scene she had filmed in her career was with the late Julian McMahon, when she guest-starred on the FX drama Nip/Tuck. “So I was nervous with Cynthia,” she noted. “And then Michael said, ‘You guys can be a little bit more.’ And I’m thinking, ‘I can’t really.’”
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Rosie O’Donnell and Cynthia Nixon on ‘And Just Like That...’Credit: Gotham/GC Images
Back in June 2025, Nixon told PEOPLE that O’Donnell’s casting was years in the making.
“Michael Patrick King, who writes our show, and is one of the chief writers on our show, has been trying to write a part for Rosie every season, and it’s never quite worked out,” the actress said.
“So this time when he told me what the idea was, I thought, ‘Oh this is fantastic, and he let me text her myself and describe it and say, ‘Could we please send you this script?’ With all our fingers and toes crossed,” Nixon recalled.
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Nixon opened up about having O’Donnell be a part of the Sex and the City world, saying, “she is so funny in the part,” yet “so centered and so real.” She went on to say, “I think that we knew she would be hilarious, but I think we were unprepared for how moving she would be in the part, how incredibly sincere and how much she would wear her heart on her sleeve.”
Earlier on the Good Hang episode, O’Donnell shared what she loved about Nixon, saying, “She is the real deal. Period. End of subject.”
“She’s one of the best actresses that we have. She stands up for injustice wherever she sees it. She puts her money where her mouth is. She loves her children and her wife,” she continued. “I admire her greatly.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
