6 minutes readSarah Jessica Parker sits across from me in a spacious midtown Manhattan hotel suite, wearing blue satin Roger Vivier pumps with crystal appliqués. I compliment her shoes. She complimented me on my well-worn Gucci loafers. “It’s a classic,” she says. I mentioned that I miss her shoe brand SJP. “Me too,” she replies.
We’re here to discuss our partnership with VIZZ, a once-daily prescription eye drop that treats myopic blurring, a condition that Parker is now 60 years old at. “It’s so funny that I don’t even think that’s a requirement,” she told me. “But I think it’s probably true. It’s a symptom of aging, it’s just blurred vision.”
The story itself is simple and, in her words, “not that appealing.” One night in Ireland, after reading 152 of 153 books as a judge for the Booker Prize, she realized: “Oh, my eyes aren’t working the way they used to.” Like many of us, she thought it would never happen to her. “I was proud that I could read in the car, I could read in the dark, I could read in any situation,” she says. “You can read it anytime, any day, any occasion, anywhere.” Enter “VIZZ.” She asked about my own vision, checked to see if I was a candidate, and offered to connect me with an eye doctor who conveniently lived downtown.
The warmth of the hoodie radiates outward and draws you in. She’s stylish and well-read, but of course she’s also maternal. I could see her bragging that one of her daughters could recite Donna Tartt. Needless to say, I’m a true fan of the show, the movies, and the Sex and the City revival. She loves it so much that it’s legendary. Here, she talks about winning the Carol Burnett Award at the inaugural Golden Eve, working with Diane Keaton, and the future of Carrie Bradshaw.
Sarah Jessica Parker at the 2026 Golden Eve Awards.
I loved your Golden Eve speech. Did you hear from Carol Burnett after that? I saw her shed tears.
We had so many lovely moments, and I didn’t see any of it – I don’t plan on watching either – but she was lovely. Everyone wanted a moment with her. Everyone approached her table. More than any other experience I’ve ever had, people have told me their stories about Carol Burnett. How they’ve seen her, when they’ve observed her, how they’ve discovered her… It was really surprising, but a lot of people had met her personally. Like, more people than I imagined would get on a plane and meet their parents and go to the show with all these stories and think, oh, let’s tell Ms. Barnett, and that’s what I wanted to convey that night, that she’s someone who has touched literally hundreds of millions of people over the years. It was great to be in the room with her and an honor to talk about her.
Speaking of comedy legends, you worked with Diane Keaton on The Family Stone. What do you remember most about that experience?
I have great memories of being with her. She was extraordinary. She was intelligent, quirky, and had a very special presence on screen, which was not unrelated to her off-screen personality, but I sometimes wonder if that suggests that everything about her job was easy, not that she wasn’t acting in a way, which of course she was, and that she took it very seriously and cared very much. She has a natural ease in front of the camera, but she also worried, worked and thought a lot. I loved hearing how seriously people were taking her career when she passed away. There were so many things about her that made her not only a fun and warm person, but also authentic on screen.
He co-starred with Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton in “The Family Stone.”
Your husband (Matthew Broderick) mentioned Carrie Bradshaw’s influence in his remarks, so I have to ask: Do you think we’ll ever see her again?
I don’t know. When Michael (Patrick King) and I decided to stop making the first series, we knew we were going to make a movie, but it was very finite. It was like, “Okay, I get to work with this crew, with this cast, for many more months.” At that time, I had no idea that I would be making the very difficult and complicated decision not to do another season of And Just Like That. I’m still as confused about the future as I was many years ago. Now that’s not our intention, but in March of 2020 we both came to the same conclusion. So it’s like, “Oh, it feels right now.” Let’s take a look.
She lives on in memes. Have you seen it? Carrie’s wonderful appearance showed up at Big’s house.
You probably haven’t seen it. (lol)
Let’s talk about VIZZ. I know you are an avid reader. Why speak out now?
I’ve been wearing glasses for years and I’m totally fine with it, but as it progresses and I need glasses more and more often, I’m no longer totally fine with it. My first experience was that I needed to read at night. It didn’t dictate the rest of my day and the same need didn’t exist. And as it progressed, for me, it became, oh, I need these more often, which means I need to have more of them on hand. Amy Sedaris says, “Every woman’s clothes should have pockets,” and she’s right about glasses.
I’m not chasing this thing around. I always think that it has helped my eyes and feet a lot. They’ve given me so much, I’ve relied on them for hours out of the day and trusted them all the way to do what I should, even in the 18th hour I’m still asking them to walk and watch and get me from A to B and sometimes run. I need to provide them with the same service. And I think this is a way to live differently for all kinds of tasks, from the minutiae of your day to the things that bring you joy, like reading recipes, doing makeup, looking at menus, etc.
Did this happen before you judged the Booker Prize or after?
It was at the very end of the Booker Prize. I had to read the last part of the shortlist. Just before I started using VIZZ, my eyes cried and begged in the middle of the night, and my eye sockets popped out and I fell on the ground in front of me and was told, “Please stop. Please rest for an hour a day.” So I went to the eye doctor.
You are famous for reading 153 books in a year. How did you manage that? What was it that allowed you to maintain that pace?
Ah, it was a dream. I’ve never talked to any judge I’ve met who had a different reaction to the experience. I talked to previous judges and they were like, “Wait a minute, this is going to be the biggest thing that’s ever happened to you.” And they were right.
What books do you always recommend?
I always recommend Goldfinch. I always recommend The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. I always recommend all the books on the[Booker Prize]shortlist because I think they’re really special. I always recommend Seascraper, but it wasn’t shortlisted. It was on the long list. “South” is a wonderful book.
What are you reading now?
I read a book called Tokyo Express. “The Promise” by Damon Galgut. Defiance, which will be published next month, is a remarkable memoir by a Syrian journalist named Lubna Mouly, who was born into a fairly influential and wealthy family, and depicts events in the early days of the uprising in Syria. I just finished reading Gisele Perico’s memoir. This is a big story to tell, and she nails it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
