Goodnites In Sex And The City-The Movie

[Angela Bauer]

On the Blu-Ray extended cut version of the 2008 Sex and the City movie starting about 31 minutes into the film, Charlotte's daughter Lilly takes off her shorts while playing dress-up. Instead of conventional panties, young Lilly is clearly wearing GoodNites. None of the adult women mention this.

IMDb does not show a date of birth for the actress playing Lilly who is Alexandra Fong. Lilly is said to be 3, although she appears as old as 5.

I missed those GoodNites back in 2008 when I saw the movie at a screening. In fact the first time I looked at the Blu-Ray version I also did not see them. But in the director's commentary Michael Patrick King told about filming that sequence, where Carrie is clearing her old apartment. The Blu-Ray is a director's extended cut. He talks about including material, especially little Lilly, that was cut from the theatrical release. Since Carrie's apartment was used all through production of the series and now the film, the apartment interior was a set in the Silvercup Studios. According to King at one point little Alexandra Fong said she needed a toilet, and used the one in set's bathroom. Of course that was non-functioning. When King said the prop department had to pump-out the toilet, I took a closer look. Then the GoodNites became obvious.

This is a situation in which the decision to show "Lilly" with delayed bedwetting (hence the GoodNites) might well be a function of Charlotte often being up-tight. It also is entirely possible the actress actually did wear pull-ups, which is hardly uncommon in show business. What a coincidence over the past couple of months there has been so much attention to Sarah Jessica Parker's remarks about liking the smell of wet diapers. Would it have been more perfect had the producers furnished the clip of "Lilly" walking around with no embarrassment wearing the GoodNites when SJP appeared on talk shows.

[Guest amandalu]

Thank you for sharing this here Angela, it is just another illustration of what kids go through when working on a set for either a TV production or a film.

All British actress i personally know and all asian actors i knoew never do that. Stupid abusive Americans.

[BriGuy]

All British actress i personally know and all asian actors i knoew never do that. Stupid abusive Americans.

LOL abusive Americans we are indeed. LOL.

Interesting factoid Angela. Thank you for sharing. I bet that situation would be a dream come true for a few members here....

[Angela Bauer]

Hi BriGuy and Everyone,

Before folks get so upset about the USA entertainment industry, perhaps they should actually watch Sex and the City-The Movie. A set of twin sisters, Alexandra and Parker Fong, play Charlotte's daughter Lily York Goldenblatt. The Fong twins are already signed to repeat as Lily in the 2010 feature Sex and the City2. It remains to be seen if Lily will still be in GoodNites in the sequel.

Many of my relatives and friends here in Hollywood are in show business. Most have not encouraged their children to audition. My best friend Peggy is the daughter of a famous producer and her mother is a leading agent of child performers. Peggy was appearing in advertisements before she can remember. Modeling lead to acting when she was a toddler, at an age where diapers were normal. Peggy never had really good bladder control. She tells me she never felt abused because she wore diapers inside costumes up to the last time she was a series regular at age 18. Her father had promised Peggy she could quit acting at any time. Peggy has been happily married since 1993. She has no children. Peggy also is a major contributor to "A Minor Consideration" which is a charity of The Screen Actors Guild. This is an advocacy organization to prevent abuse and exploitation of younger performers.

[toddmdl]

That's an interesting tidbit. I have a question though, why is it not uncommon for child actors to wear pullups? Is it because of stress?

[Angela Bauer]

As far as I have found, the first time a commentary has discussed child actors needing a potty break is during the Blu-Ray extras of Sex and the City-The Movie. The director of the film, Michael Patrick King, never called attention to the GoodNites worn by the character "Lily" However, he did say that during this sequence one of the twins, either Parker or Alexandra Fong, who play Lily suddenly said she needed to use a toilet. Apparently she was allowed to do so by herself. Unfortunately the child did not realize the toilet in the bathroom section of the set had no plumbing.

Back when my best friend Peggy was still acting on TV series disposable pull-ups were not available. She is just old enough to have grown up in Pampers. By the time Peggy was 10 she had outgrown the then largest Pampers or Huggies. Fortunately Attends was still making Junior, which was slightly larger than a modern Size 7. Today my youngest sister Missy is an award-winning movie and TV series costume designer. When there are child performers in the cast, Missy consults with the kid and the parents. Although pull-ups really do help promote toilet-learning, often they have excessive rise, which is hard to effectively hide. Missy is a long-time member of both the Costume Designers Guild and the Costumers Local of IATSE. On a union production a costumer must assist with changes. With a young child the parent could change the diaper and the union costumer would be sure that was hidden. An older child could change her own diaper. Peggy did not wear diapers after age 5 except on set. She tells me she did not learn to change herself. Usually it was her maternal granny with her on set who did her changes. During her last series, in 1988, another actress was 10. That girl made no secret of still wetting her bed, so she claimed to change herself. Of course at the studio all that happened in private dressing rooms, so Peggy has no way of knowing if the other actress actually did change herself.

That's an interesting tidbit. I have a question though, why is it not uncommon for child actors to wear pullups? Is it because of stress?

[Kari]

There's always been that "urban legend" about Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Kari