S
he made her name
playing the sexually
liberated Samantha Jones
on Sex and the City, but it was a
much more serious Kim Cattrall
who shared her heartache last
week as she talked about the
death of her brother.
Confirming for the first time
that her younger sibling Chris
took his own life last year, Kim
was candid as she admitted
his death had left her broken
and feeling she would never
be the same.
“No-one can prepare you. He
was suffering from depression,
but depression is a curious thing
and it can be impossible to
detect if someone doesn’t
want you to know. I didn’t know.
We [the family] didn’t know.
“And when you lose
someone to suicide there is
always the question, ‘If I could
only have... if I did only... if I was
only...’ and it haunts you. You
have to learn to live with those
endless questions, the endlessguilt, the endless frustration
every day because you are in a
new reality and there is nothing
you can do to change it.”
Chris, who lived in Alberta,
Canada with his wife Morgan
and their seven dogs, went
missing on January 30, 2018.
Concerns were raised when his
keys, cellphone and wallet were
found strewn on the kitchen
table and he’d left the house
without locking the front door.
Kim turned to her almost half
a million followers on Instagram,
begging for their help to find
him. “This is not like Chris,” she
wrote. “He would never leave his
unlocked home without those
items nor his 7 beloved dogs.”
A few days later, Chris’
remains were discovered on
his property and the devastated
actress broke the news to the
world in a moving post.
“It is with great sadness that
myself and my family announce
the unexpected passing of our
son and brother Chris Cattrall,”
she wrote. “At this
time we ask forprivacy. We want to thank you
all on social media for your
outpouring of love and support
in this trying time.”
A few weeks later the
Liverpool-born actress travelled
to Scotland, lighting a candle in
a church in honour of Chris – but
the grieving process had really
only just begun. Eventually
she found that going for walks
helped to soothe the deep
“well of sadness” inside her.
Now, the 62-year-old says, she
feels it’s “hugely important” to
talk about suicide more openly.
“It’s hard to talk about suicide
and I also don’t think, in our
society today, we are very good
with grief. But since we lost
Chris, so many people have
privately shared their losses
of family members or friends
and you realise suicide is an
epidemic. It’s just that we
don’t talk about it.
“Chris was a very sweet man
who was quiet about his needs
and wants and that is how he
died. It is unbearably sad. He
left behind a lot of people who
loved him. I have never
been to AA, but I now
know the wisdom of
the rule of taking one
day at a time. It is all
you can do.”
Eighteen months on,
Kim now has a different
outlook on life and also
her career, saying she’s
only drawn to work that
“makes me happy” –
and that means not
reprising her iconic
Sex and the City role.During the ground-breaking
show’s six-year run, rumours
constantly swirled about
bad blood between
Kim and fellow star
Sarah Jessica
Parker, who
played Carrie
Bradshaw.
That feud
was seemingly
confirmed when Kim
lashed out at her former
colleague in the wake of
her brother’s death.
After Sarah (54) posted a
message of condolence on
Instagram, Kim responded
with, “My Mom asked me
today, ‘When will that
@sarahjessicaparker, that
hypocrite, leave you alone?’
Your continuous reaching out
is a painful reminder of how
cruel you really were, then and
now. Let me make this VERY
clear (if I haven’t already). You are
not my family. You are not my
friend. So I’m writing to tell you
one last time to stop exploiting
our tragedy in order to restore
your ‘nice girl’ persona.”
Kim had previously told
interviewer Piers Morgan in
2017 that during their reign
on Sex and the City, Sarah
“could have been nicer”
adding, “I don’t know what
her issue is, I never have.”
Her resolve to not work with
the Divorce star again appears
to be set in stone.
“Never,” the actress said
recently when asked about
the third movie. “It’s a ‘no’
from me. You learn lessons inKim says since
Chris’ passing
she has felt a deep
“well of sadness”
at her new reality.
14 New Zealand Woman’s Weekly