Beyond the shoes and the skirts and even the sex, Sex and the City has always also been about sharp writing, realistic plots and honest emotions.  For all of that, you can thank Michael Patrick King, the series writer and producer who helmed Sex and the City: The Movie. Shortly before the movie's release, he discussed some of the pressure that following such a popular series creates, what it was like to work with SATC's famed quartet of actresses and more with reporters.

Q: A perfect 6 seasons, and you know [you] worried about screwing it up at all, which you obviously didn’t do. Did fear play a part in that?

A: Fear is a huge motivator, and it’s also a huge obstacle to overcome in anything. You know anytime anyone at their job that’s gonna take on another version, or another challenge is probably a little bit afraid. But in this case, my past was still on the air, it was still being loved by these fans. So the first fear was, "Will it be enough for the fans?" and the second fear that you sort of eventually get over when you start working, is, "Will I have the right instincts this time?" So all you can do is follow the instincts you followed all the other times and see what happens.

Q: When the series was on the air, it was first beloved by New Yorkers and Los Angelina’s probably, and then when it started being shown on TBS and stuff could you feel this new groundswell of love for Sex and the City rolling across the country as it did?

A: Yes, I started to notice when I was in airports. Suddenly people would come up to me and say, "Yeah I love you." And I was like "Wow, it’s really now bigger"...When it was going to go to syndication, my first reaction was they are gonna cut all the sex out of it, and that’s too bad because it was so sexy and funny sexy, not like sex like pornography. I don’t think anyone ever watched our show to get in the mood. It was like if you could have sex after you watched an episode of our show, well then you’re really turned on, because it was mostly about the humiliation of trying to be in love with someone.

But all of a sudden in syndication what surfaced was the love of these 4 girls, and that was always what the series really was about. But the word sex sort of trumped the love affair between the girls. So the syndication made it available to a whole other world, including guys who were watching it in bed with their wives.

Q: That’s what I think it’s. I mean obviously, like I said, you did the gays and ladies proud, but it is so funny watching these journalists and then the other few people who’ve seen see it, seeing the straight guys watch it and get teared up at certain points or really surprised how much they like it. And I think what that speaks to is the relationships with these 4 girls, and, regardless of the shoes or the comedy or the sex, it’s the relationships are told from a very real perspective.

A: It was really important to me to do a movie, especially this movie, that reflected a reality, because when something gets that big on the screen the artifices is really obvious. So I had four amazing actresses that could play anything as real as possible, so I knew that.

But the other thing I think that the guys are reacting to is the fact that – and it’s a little known fact – that the guys were really not the villains in Sex and the City the series. It was the guys were always pretty clear. I’m not talking about the guys who came in and had bad penises or yelled things at them when they were having sex; I’m talking about the substantial men in these smart ladies’ lives. They were always there to challenge the women and I think when you go to the movie you’ll see that the guys are kind of noble and true.

And everybody makes mistakes in relationships. You don’t have to be just meeting somebody for the first time. You can be married and make a mistake, so there’s a sense of love and forgiveness, and a sense of, you know, even in the bad times there are some good times.

Q: Always with the show there was a warts-and-all attitude towards sex and everything, and I think in this one there is a warts and all attitude towards some of these girls and you get to see them really in ways we’ve never seen them before, especially Carrie...There is a moment in which she takes off her sunglasses and she’s upset and you can tell she’s going for broke with this kind of stuff.

A: Yeah, the thing about when you have Sarah Jessica Parker playing a part, and you have because you’re writing a whole movie and you want to have comedy and drama and you want to have tragedy and thrills, when there is a dark moment she can go there...

There was never a thought about I’m not going to play this real, because that moment you’re speaking of is the place where the movie goes. This isn’t just a typical romantic comedy. When people get hurt, where something bad happens to them, they feel it. And I got a great instrument for feeling in Sarah Jessica Parker. She emanates. When she is fizzy, she is really fizzy, and when she’s sad, you’re sad, so it’s a gift.