IN CONVERSATION WITH KIM CATTRALL

interview by MARIA MOTA and JANA LETONJA

Numéro Netherlands is thrilled to introduce KIM CATTRALL, gracing the cover of our 12th issue Aurora, captured by FERNANDO SIPPEL in London. KIM doesn’t just play iconic women — she is one. A master of reinvention, she’s taken on vastly different roles, from the unforgettable Samantha Jones in Sex and the City to the introspective Davina Jackson in Sensitive Skin. Currently, she is narrating the award-winning BBC Radio 4 audio drama Central Intelligence, telling the story of Eloise Page, aka “The Iron Butterfly,” the highest ranking female officer in the CIA. Decades in, Cattrall still defies expectations, proving that reinvention isn’t just part of her job, it’s who she is.

Interview with Kim Cattrall available in our latest print issue Aurora.

trench coat DIOR
jewellery CARTIER

MARIA MOTA
You’ve worked across a variety of genres, from drama to comedy. How do you approach such diverse roles, and what is the “it” factor that draws you to a character or script?

KIM CATTRALL
The “it” factor is indescribable. You just feel, in your knowledge of yourself, that this is a story you want to be aligned with, one you want to tell. Sometimes when I read a script I think, “Oh, this is something I don’t understand,” which makes me say yes because I want to understand it. It’s always a riddle. There’s a process of asking yourself, “Does this resonate with something I know deeply or something I know nothing about?” Both are challenging in their own way, and both help you grow as an actor. It’s vital to have these questions — to always have questions.

boots and trench coat DIOR
jewellery CARTIER

MM
Is there a role or project that stands out to you as a defining moment in your career?

KC
I enjoy the complexities that challenge me and lead me to explore new dimensions of both a character and myself. That’s what gave me the audacity to take on Shakespeare’s Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra on stage — a truly monumental role. She is such a powerful woman, caught in the very human situation of being in love with someone as self-destructive as Antony. This was one of those roles you just can’t stop thinking about. Sometimes you choose the role, and sometimes the role chooses you.

MM
What would you say was the biggest challenge in embodying her?

KC
Cleopatra is mercurial, a woman who shifts personas in the span of a single sentence. Seductive, contemplative, abusive, kind, a mother and a warrior. Taking on that changeability constantly throughout the play, sometimes I would lose track and think, “Where is she now?” Navigating so many different layers to one character is a challenge, but it was also this complexity that sparked my interest.

Preparing for the part required every kind of discipline. The vocal preparation alone took two years because the speeches are like arias. It was fathomless, the levels that I went to and explored. It was really fulfilling.

dress and boa TOM FORD
shoes TERRY DE HAVILLAND

MM
Your characters often navigate themes of agency, desire, reinvention, self-acceptance and personal freedom. How have these roles shaped your understanding of what it means to be a woman at different stages of life?

KC
Playing these powerful women has made me more empathetic and deepened my understanding of the complexities we face as women. I think women of my generation were brought up with the belief that if you wanted something hard enough, and you were going to work and dedicate yourself to that task, you could have everything. But I think having it all is a myth, and women are still being burdened by that responsibility.

dress ZADIG&VOLTAIRE
jewellery CARTIER
hat PHILLIP TRACY

MM
Why do you think it’s important to share the stories of women and to keep fighting for progress?

KC
To lead change for the next generation means everything to me. Being engaged in what’s going on in your neighbourhood, town or country, and ultimately in our world, is crucial, especially now. I do this also by choosing to play characters and tell stories where women are challenged but come together as a community, where they try to make a difference and fight for what is our right, our human right.

dress and skirt SAINT LAURENT
jewellery CARTIER
shoes SAINT LAURENT

dress ZADIG&VOLTAIRE
jewellery CARTIER
shoes JIMMY CHOO

dress and cardigan FENDI
jewellery CARTIER
shoes FENDI

MM
Beyond your acting career, you’ve found a second home in producing, giving you the platform to bring these meaningful stories to life. How do you, as a producer, choose which projects to get involved in while also ensuring they resonate with audiences?

KC
When taking on a project, I understand the character and the questions. I don’t necessarily have answers to the questions; but what I do have is an opportunity to create a forum for them while also entertaining people, hopefully with some humour. One of the wonderful things I learned about a subject like sex, doing a show like Sex and the City, is that if you bring humour and intelligence to your characters and these situations, they become so much more acceptable and so much less frightening.

Right now, I’m in a stage of life where I’m asking myself a lot of questions about getting older, how that feels and how my career fluctuates. Choosing projects with a story I haven’t heard before, and addressing some of the questions that I myself am asking, also plays a big part in this. If I’m asking these questions, there must be other women who are in a similar situation.

left
dress ZADIG&VOLTAIRE
jewellery CARTIER
shoes JIMMY CHOO

right
dress and boa TOM FORD
shoes TERRY DE HAVILLAND

MM
What inspires you to keep creating and contributing to this industry?

KC
Being able to tell stories that matter, especially stories about women, that’s really what I’m about. In an industry where it is especially difficult for women to maintain a long-term career, it often feels like the men in show business are getting older while the women are getting younger. I’ve found producing to be such a powerful, strong and positive way to tell stories about women that I, and hopefully you, want to see on screen. That’s where I feel most alive and most useful. I think it’s also really important at this stage of my life to be of use to a younger generation, to help educate them about what I’ve learnt. That’s what keeps me going.

left
dress and boa TOM FORD
shoes TERRY DE HAVILLAND

right
trench coat DIOR
jewellery CARTIER

trench coat DIOR
jewellery CARTIER

dress ZADIG&VOLTAIRE
jewellery CARTIER
shoes JIMMY CHOO

TEAM CREDITS:

talent KIM CATTRALL
photography FERNANDO SIPPEL
styling THOMAS DAVIS
makeup SARAH REYGATE
hair CARLOZ FERRAZ
photography assistant ELIJAH HORNE
styling assistant OLIVIA SIMMONS
producer DEAN GOODMAN
post production MARIO ERNUN
casting TIMI LETONJA & JANA LETONJA
editor TIMI LETONJA
interview MARIA MOTA & JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN