Sarah Jessica Parker on why we didn't see Carrie call 911 after Big's heart attack

It's one of the great questions of 2021: Why didn't we see Carrie call 911 immediately after Mr. Big's surprise heart attack on the series premiere of And Just Like That?

According to star Sarah Jessica Parker, she did — artistic liberties just made it feel much (much) longer to viewers.

"Of course she called 911! Didn't you see the people behind [her, later], moving the body out?" Parker said in an interview with Andy Cohen on Tuesday's episode of Watch What Happens Live.

Parker, who plays Carrie, went on to call fans questioning Carrie's timing "an understandable and logical expectation," especially when it involves a character who played such an important role in Carrie's romantic life throughout Sex and the City, but she credits the show's behind-the-scenes team with amplifying the emotions of the moment.

"I always think, in that particular moment — as there have been a few in the show — it's suspended animation," she said. "It's this moment where everything stops, and then whatever collapsing of time that happens does not stop her from taking care of somebody in a fashion that you would want and expect from your partner or husband or wife."

She continued, "So, she found the phone at some point. In my head, she struggled through this moment and tried to get him to be responsive, and then she came to her sense — I'm going to say after about two to three seconds. Of course she called 911 and got all the help she needed from professionals."

The moment quickly made headlines following the series premiere in December, shortly before several women accused Chris Noth, the actor who played Big on both Sex and the City and And Just Like That, of sexual assault.

Series creator Michael Patrick King previously opened up to EW about why he chose to remove Big from the show in such an abrupt way.

"I also felt comfortable because the DNA is the same. People forget, Carrie never had Big in the series. She had him briefly — a minute or two. And she doesn't have Big now. It's just a different circumstance. It's more final," he said. "People are like, 'How could you have done this?' The last voiceover in the series is why I did it. Everybody thinks when she's walking down the street and Big says, 'I'm coming, baby' that that's the happy ending. And it is. But what Carrie's really saying in the voiceover is that the most significant, challenging, loving relationship you will ever have is the one you make with yourself. And if you find somebody else who sees you, that's fabulous. So this [show] is about the significant, challenging, loving relationship — we're trying to prove the thesis and the theory that you're enough."

All episodes of And Just Like That are now streaming on HBO Max. Watch Parker's interview on Watch What Happens Live above.

Hear more on all of this week's must-see picks in EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

Related content:

• The crucial hits and major misses of And Just Like That
• And Just Like That stars remember Willie Garson in new documentary
• Sarah Jessica Parker thinks Samantha's absence was 'handled really nicely' on And Just Like That