Kim Cattrall on Porn, Her Sex and the City Future and Logan's Run Past

When you watch a movie like this or Boogie Nights -- was porn in the '70s more fun? It's seems to have a kitschy value to it.

Well, I think there is in this film, and I think that there is in the movies that she made -- which were all parodies. There is certainly a tongue in cheek quality to that, but I think that's Keith commenting on it. But those films from the '70s, I think they were so naïve and they were done so low-budget and they think there's a nostalgia to it. I've watched some; I've watched some documentaries about it, and it was so off-putting for me how these young women were so... not just objectified, but used. And a lot of them had aspirations for more. A lot of them wanted to come to Hollywood and be stars.

Right, like if they do this role in a porn they might get a role on Three's Company, or something.

Yeah, then they find themselves in a backroom in Van Nuys taking their top off. And somebody is saying that this is a real screen. And, suddenly, they do one little flick and another little flick and they start to become this porn star. Then what do you do? It's exciting and it's part of the dream and you get carried away. And then, suddenly, you're labeled as an outcast.

How much weight did you gain for this role?

I gained 20 pounds. Well, that was part of the deal with Keith. He said to me, "You know, I'm really interested but, first of all, you're too pretty and you're too in shape." And I said, "How much weight do you think I would have to gain?" He first said 35 pounds so I said, "I can't gain that amount safely before we start shooting." He said, "Don't exercise. How much weight can you gain?" And I said, "Watch me!", because I love to eat, as you can see. [Points to her food] So he asked about 20 and I thought I could do 20 safely. So I did 15 before we started shooting, and by the end of production I was 20 pounds overweight.

Was it hard to lose?

It was heaven putting it on because I love to eat, as I said. Every night after shooting we'd go to a bar and have a couple of drinks and then we go and have a big heavy ol' dinner and sleep on it and come back the next day and eat Cheez-It and cheese Doritos on the set and all of these fattening foods -- which were fun! Most people eat like that all of the time. [Laughs] I kinda wish I could because it's delicious. But, afterward, it was hell. Yeah, it was tough. Keith said, "I want to take this image people have of you and smash it into smithereens. I'm going to make you look different than you've ever looked." And I think, like most women, I want to look good; I want to look attractive, all of those things.

Speaking of the '70s, I'm curious about your experience as a Universal contract player in the 1970s. For example, what was it like having a guest role on Quincy?

Oh, God, it was terrific. It was one of my first jobs, and I remember I played the wife of a rapist. And Adrienne Barbeau was in the episode. She played this detective who was trying to find who the rapist was. And he raped her, and he beat up and raped a whole bunch of people, and finally he did it to me and I turn him in. And I just remembered Jack Klugman being so wonderful to me and so supportive of me. And he thought I was terrific on the episode, so it was a very good experience.

And then you were on The Incredible Hulk.

Oh, Bill Bixby... I was a huge fan of his from My Favorite Martian. Yeah, so he was terrific. Again, he kind of took me under his wing. I was a young Universal contract player -- I was like 20 years old -- so all of those shows, I had never really been on camera very much, so it was a real kind of training ground. Just to be in front of the camera and feel ease on a set and know who did what.

And the one I'm most curious about because it has such a cult following, Logan's Run.

Oh my God! Wow, that's right! That was with Gregory Harrison. I played this princess from [starts laughing] another country... I mean another planet! It was fun. Again, that first year of being a contract player at Universal I was farmed out a lot. I just remember doing a scene and, at the end of it, the whole crew bursts out in applause. I guess I had done it well and it was like, "Oh, wow, OK!" [laughs]. It was like a theater experience.

As a contract player, when you do something like Logan's Run, do you even try to learn the back story of things like what happens at the age of 30?

There's no time, no. You're doing three or four shows at the same time and costume fittings and everything. I don't think you can get that heavily into it and I don't think the material really merits it. [Laughs] You're burdening it with something that I don't think it can really take.

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