Were there really catfights behind the scenes? Why did the first attempt at a Sex and the City movie fail? How will the story change now that the ladies have (mostly) settled down? What does she mean when she says that this movie ''goes to a very sad place, a very dark place that we've never gone to before''? And, goodness, what are the ladies wearing now? In this in-depth interview, star Sarah Jessica Parker, who's also a producer on the Sex and the City movie, answers those questions and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does it feel to be back in Carrie's fabulous shoes?
SARAH JESSICA PARKER: It feels wonderful. I couldn't really imagine what the first day would be like and it's really thrilling, I gotta say. It pretty much reflects my experience the whole seven years [on the series]. The feeling on the set and my particular affection for this is the same. It's wonderful. I just don't know how many times this happens to a person in a career. It will be hard to walk away from this again because, you know, previously when I said goodbye [to the show], we thought we were doing the movie then.

Why do the movie now?
About [two years] ago I was out at our beach home and I was alone in the house for a minute. A thought provoked by — I don't recall what at the time — came into my head that we should start revisiting this idea. And I called Kevin Huvane, who's been my agent for about 25 years, and said, ''I have a crazy notion and I think we should think about revisiting the movie.'' I knew that The Devil Wears Prada was coming out soon, and I knew that that would affect us in good ways and bad ways. It would inform us in terms of what is the audience and what are studios' feelings toward female subjects in movies. I knew it would be a good yardstick for us, but I was also concerned about that hunger being met and us trying to come back again and, you know, dipping into the same well. So Prada came out and, as we know, was an enormous hit. That summer, one of those chatty socialite people came around to me — who I don't know well, but who seem to feel comfortable saying things to me that may or may not be hurtful — and said: ''I just saw this private screening of Prada; they did your movie.'' And I said, ''Well, good. That's grand.'' I always think it's best to hope for other people's success. I hadn't seen the movie yet. Then I saw it. I could understand why she said that, but I also knew that we had a different story to tell.

You mentioned the first planned Sex and the City movie, from 2004. Why did that one fall apart?
Kim [Cattrall] just didn't want to do it. I think that the tragedy in the story being told is: I still don't know why a person can't choose to not do a movie. Like, why is she vilified and why are ideas drawn about the rest of our relationship because she made that choice? I mean, it was disappointing at the time and I was worried because people had committed and not taken other jobs. But she's no more beholden to say yes to this movie than she is to any script that may or may not come her way. She chose not to do it and it was over money, as I understood it. You have to respect people's choices. It was a bitter pill at the time and I did worry about, Well these [crew members] committed and how are they gonna get work? [But] I'm very sorry that the less respectable or reputable — I don't know if you call them magazines or newspapers, I don't even know what they are.

Rags?
Rags. [They] wanted to make something of it.

NEXT PAGE: ''I was like, 'Well yeah, it's true. We don't always hang out after work.' Because it was 2 and 3 in the morning! And most colleagues don't! No one questions men. No one ever asked the Sopranos guys, 'Do you hang out?'''