Kristin Davis, 56, reflects on aging in the public eye: 'I'm on television, where every bit of my physical being is analyzed'

Kristin Davis isn’t thrilled with the continuous conversations around her physical appearance.

The Sex and the City actress, who is currently reprising her role as Charlotte York Goldenblatt on HBO Max’s sequel series And Just Like That..., told New Beauty that while she's grateful for the franchise's "longevity," it has come with some drawbacks.

"I can only speak for myself, but it can also be extremely stressful to be aging and to be compared to your much, much, much younger self," she explained to the outlet. "If I was from a regular life, I would feel fine; I would feel great! I'm healthy, I'm strong, I've got this little three-year-old son, and I carry him around and it's all good — but, no, I'm on television, where every bit of my physical being is analyzed. That part was always very stressful and difficult for me, because, as much as I can look back on my life and think, 'Oh, I looked great then,' you never think that at the time. I guess no one does."

She also shared that the paparazzi photos from the set of And Just Like That... are a particular challenge, explaining, "I have days where I literally want to put my face in a bowl of ice like Joan Crawford. If we are on location, we are photographed from the time we get to work, all day long, for 14 hours straight. And it is a bizarre thing, because that's not my actual job and no one on the planet is going to look good for that long. You can't sit still in the good light for 14 hours for the paparazzi!"

Davis isn't the only And Just Like That... star to hit back at the pressure to look how they did in the early 2000s. Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays lead character Carrie Bradshaw, told Vogue in a recent interview that she's over the criticism she received for sporting her natural gray hair while on set.

"There's so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never happen about a man," she explained to the magazine. "'Gray hair gray hair gray hair. Does she have gray hair?' I'm sitting with Andy Cohen, and he has a full head of gray hair, and he's exquisite. Why is it OK for him?"

While her age has been a topic of conversation, Davis recently told The Sunday Times that she's experienced comments about her body during her Sex and the City days, too.

"They would write articles every week about how I was 'pear-shaped,' which I didn't feel was a compliment at the time," she said. "It would stress me out a fair amount because I couldn't avoid it. I kind of feel like that’s how it is now too. But I also feel — I'm going to be blunt — I feel like, ‘F*** you. F*** you people, like, come over here and do it better.' You know what I mean? Like, what are you doing?"

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