With the halcyon days of Che Diaz now behind us, keeping up with who Miranda Hobbes is dating and/or swooning over on the third season of And Just Like That… is some of the most gay fun I’ve had in a while. The lastest person to turn her head, in Love Island parlance? Dolly Wells as Joy, the beautiful, gossip-loving, buttoned-up-yet-mirthful BBC producer.
Wells is perhaps best known for co-starring alongside her real-life bestie Emily Mortimer on Doll Em, the HBO series they wrote together in the mid-2010s, but her acting resume is an impressive one; she’s appeared in everything from the Bridget Jones franchise (Woney forever) to Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (Real British comedy heads will also remember her guest spots on Peep Show.) Now, it’s time for American audiences to get to know Wells as part of the Carrie Bradshaw extended universe—and the 53-year-old actress is more than ready.
Ahead of season three, episode three of And Just Like That, Vogue spoke to Wells about rewatching the original Sex and the City, playing Miranda’s latest paramour, getting recognized in the park, worshipping the BBC, and more.
Vogue: Were you a viewer of Sex and the City when it first aired?
Dolly Wells: You know what’s crazy? I wasn’t, and I don’t know why. I can’t explain it now. I didn’t watch it when I was young, but it’s sort of like suddenly realizing how delicious dark chocolate or something is. I’ve watched it all now; I had a sort of Sex and the City holiday. All my friends watched it at the time that it came out, but I’ve often gone through stages of people just being so confused that I’ve never seen Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. I was probably just trying to be cool.
Did you have a favorite boyfriend—or girlfriend!—of the week from the original show?
Oh, God, well, I love Baryshnikov as Carrie’s Russian boyfriend. He was a really good one. I loved what busy daters they were. I wasn’t busy, and I really should have taken a leaf out of their books. [Laughs.]
What drew you to the character of Joy on And Just Like That…?
It was just so flattering to be approached about it. I was now so into the show, and I just thought Joy sounded cool. I thought, I really like the BBC, because, you know, if you’re English and you’re an actor, you’re always sort of hoping to be on the list to be in things that the BBC makes. They make really good television, and and they have no commercials, and there’s just something wonderful about the old tradition of having a BBC that makes brilliant things. I liked that Joy was a BBC producer, and I loved Miranda’s character. I didn’t get told very much in the beginning, I just knew that I was a producer and that I would meet Miranda outside the UN, but I was drawn to the potential of it and I liked what I read. I just thought Joy sounded interesting.
What was it like working with Cynthia Nixon?
She is a dream. I really admire her. She’s incredibly good at acting, obviously, so she’s really fun to act with, and she’s so bright and curious and interested and gracious; she’s really wonderful. Being on And Just Like That… in the third season sort of feels like you’re joining a new school and you don’t want to try too hard with all the big girls. You sort of want to play it a bit cool. I remember being at the read-through and just being like, Oh my gosh, look at them all. Wow. Everybody is so friendly, though, and the thing that really moves me is that they still have such passion and excitement for the work, including Michael Patrick King and John Melfi. There’s such a feeling of excitement and joy and happiness to be doing it, and I felt really lucky. Cynthia is just a really, really nice person who I really like and admire, and it’s lovely to play her girlfriend.
Do your kids watch you on the show?
My son doesn’t yet, but he will. My daughter does, and what’s so cool is that my best friend Emily [Mortimer], her daughter May, who’s 15, has been watching the whole series. It feels amazing that there’s this whole new generation of young people watching it.
Speaking of Emily, do you still hear from Doll Em fans?
Oh, yes, a lot. We want to do another one at some point. The ladies on And Just Like That… were all so nice about it, too, so that was really sweet. Last week in the park, a guy came up to me and was like, “I see you in the park every day with your dog, and I don’t say anything, but I just have to say how much I love Doll Em.” That’s so thrilling, because I just got to create a world with my best friend and it was so much fun to do. I think we both sort of feel like, hopefully that door isn’t closed.
Is Doll Em the thing you get recognized for most often?
Well, in England the thing I get recognized for the most is really quite weird; it’s a show called Some Girls that didn’t come to America. It was on BBC Three and I play this quite foul-mouthed New Zealand games teacher. It’s about these girls who are such cool, tough young women, and it was in 2006, before everyone was embracing the idea of women being messy. These girls were just so funny and crude.
You also did an episode of Hacks recently, right?
Oh, yes, that was so great. Again, just such awesome women, and you’re sitting there just sort of trying not to be too excited that you’re in it. Jean Smart is so incredible, I really had a bit of a crush on her; she was so gracious! I was there for about two days, but she was so warm and open and kind and really funny. It’s so wonderful meeting women like that, where you’re like, Oh my gosh, you’re at the peak of your thing.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
