Austin Butler Recalls Watching ‘Sex in the City’ in the Bathtub to Prepare for ‘The Carrie Diaries’: ‘I Was Like a Middle-Aged Woman’

Team Kyddshaw forever! Austin Butler has nothing but sweet words to say about his experience on the set of The CW’s The Carrie Diaries, which was a Sex and the City prequel series.

“I have so many fond memories of that time because that was when I first moved to New York,” the Elvis star, 31, recalled on the Friday, February 17, episode of Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast. “I never lived in New York before and I was able to move to New York for two years and make that show. It was that and getting to be around AnnaSophia [Robb], everybody in that show, [they were] just so fun to be around, even just going back and watching Sex and the City.”

Butler continued: “I remember having an apartment in New York, I’d take a bath and I’d pop on Sex and the City. I was like a middle-aged woman [with] a glass of wine [and] always candles.”

The Switched at Birth alum — who rose to fame acting on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel — landed the role of Sebastian Kydd on The Carrie Diaries opposite Robb, now 29, in 2013. The CW sitcom, which aired two seasons before its 2014 cancellation, followed Robb’s Carrie Bradshaw as she balanced high school in Castlebury, Connecticut, with a new internship in Manhattan. Butler portrayed Sebastian, who was Carrie’s high school crush and on-and-off boyfriend.

The Carrie Diaries was inspired by Candace Bushnell’s Young Adult novel of the same name, which was a prequel spinoff following a younger version of Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) before she met her Manhattan besties Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon).

“I realized it was actually a really strong story,” Robb — who married Trevor Paul in September 2022 — previously gushed to Teen Vogue in February 2013 of the show’s premise. “It had a lot of heart and integrity, and Carrie seems like a character that I can grow with.”

Since The Carrie Diaries’ early cancellation, Butler has gone on to reach new career milestones. His performance as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic earned him his first Oscar nomination.

“I’m so proud of him. I am just so thrilled for him,” the Soul Surfer actress exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2022 of Butler. “He’s such a dedicated, focused actor and a kind person. So [he deserves] all the accolades.”

She continued at the time: “You know, when we met during The Carrie Diaries, everybody knew he was going to be a movie star. You don’t have a face like that and not be a movie star. But he also, he has the intelligence and the dedication and the kindness to really [shine]. … He’s perfect for [the role of Elvis], but he’s perfect not just because he looks [like him], he embodied him. I mean he spent two years of his life studying the man and getting into his bones.”

While both Robb and the Shannara Chronicles alum have moved on from their days at Castlebury High, Butler remains open about potentially revisiting Sebastian on SATC’s spinoff, And Just Like That. (AJLT premiered in December 2021, starring Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda two decades later.)

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“That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought about it, but it’s a good idea,” Butler quipped on Friday after host Clayton Davis noted that he played Elvis at various ages in Elvis. “Sebastian Kydd at 42 years old?”