The premiere episode of And Just Like That saw Carrie Bradshaw’s husband, John “Mr. Big” Preston, get killed off, ending the chance of their love story getting further explored. Life & Style takes a closer look at what happened to Chris Noth‘s character.
How Did Big Die in ‘And Just Like That’?
After finishing an intense Peloton ride at home, Big suffered a heart attack and collapsed in the shower. Carrie returned home from attending Charlotte’s daughter’s piano recital to find him dying and he passed away in her arms. “And just like that … Big died,” Sarah Jessica Parker — who plays Carrie — said in a heartbreaking voiceover in the finale scene.
The character of Big had heart issues dating back to Sex and the City, where he underwent an angioplasty in a 2003 episode due to an artery blockage.
Big’s Death Set the Tone for ‘And Just Like That’ Season 1
The pall of Carrie becoming a widow was explored throughout the first season of And Just Like That…
In addition to the funeral in episode 2, Carrie went about downsizing her life. She moved out of the luxury apartment they shared and into a spacious new place overlooking the Hudson River. After feeling his ghostly presence looking over her, the author eventually moved back into her Upper East Side bachelorette pad.
Carrie explored whether or not Big cheated on her with his ex-wife, Natasha, after discovering he left her $1,000,000 in his will. She came face to face with her now-married mom love rival, only to find out Big did it out of guilt from the pain he caused Natasha and that she didn’t want the money.
The former sex columnist also clashed with Big’s brother, who wanted his sibling’s ashes to be buried in a plot with other members of his family.
Eventually, Carrie traveled to Paris and scattered Big’s ashes off the Pont des Arts bridge, which was fitting as that was where he found her in the Sex and the City series finale to tell her she was “The One” after so many years of their on-again, off-again romance.
What Did Sarah Jessica Parker Say About Big’s Death?
“Big dying was really, really hard to do both professionally and personally,” SJP told E! News on May 27, 2025, ahead of And Just Like That‘s season 3 premiere.
“That’s not just a thread. It’s one of the main arteries that you would struggle to do without,” she continued. “It was really sad to say goodbye to that. It’s not like I needed it for my own health or wellbeing, but that was a hugely wonderful story to tell for a lot of years.”
Big’s Death Was Central to Bringing ‘And Just Like That’ Back as a ‘Sex and the City’ Revival
“Dying was the origin story. Nobody wanted to come back if [the show] was not going to be different,” writer-director-showrunner Michael Patrick King told Vanity Fair in December 2021.
“When I told Chris that Mr. Big dies in the first episode, he definitely knew it wasn’t [going to be the] same. And we had to talk about it. He really wanted to talk about why he’s dying and what it does for this series. The more we talked about it, the more he understood that it was for Carrie — and Carrie’s storyline is it’s better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all,” Michael explained.
He elaborated that Chris returning so he could be killed off was central to the Sex and the City revival, where he played Carrie’s love interest starting in season 1 of the HBO series that aired from 1998 through 2004.
“I couldn’t have done the show without him. I wouldn’t have done the show without him. I wouldn’t have done the show if Mr. Big didn’t die in the last five minutes [of episode 1]. And I also wouldn’t have the show if he wasn’t so charismatic and charming and alive in the first 40,” Michael shared.
