And Just Like That adds big star to season three amid multiple cast exits

The ‘Sex and the City’ spin off has once again started production in New York

And Just Like That has added a new cast member to star alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon in its upcoming third season.

The Sex and the City spin off was recently hit by a wave of actor exits, which saw Sara Ramírez (Che Diaz) and Karen Pittman (Nya Wallace) depart from the series.

Production for And Just Like That’s third season started in New York on Wednesday with Parker, Davis and Nixon all sharing photos from their first table read on social media.

The Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda actresses were joined by their returning co-stars Nicole Ari Parker, Sarita Choudhury and Mario Cantone – plus one new cast member.

Emmy winner Rosie O’Donnell revealed she was also at the table read on social media and posted a photo of her And Just Like That season three script to Instagram.

O’Donnell will play a new And Just Like That character called Mary in an episode titled “Outlook Good” the photo revealed.

“Here comes Mary,” the comedian told her 500,000 followers, who were quick to start guessing which existing plot line O’Donell’s character might be a part of.

Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis in ‘And Just Like That’ (Warner Media Direct)

One follower wrote in the Instagram comments: “I hope Mary is a love interest for Miranda!” while another asked if Mary was “Miranda’s new lady”.

It comes after Sarita Choudhury seemingly confirmed Che Diaz actor Sara Ramírez’s exit from And Just Like That last month.

Speaking to Radio Times Choudhury said of her departing co-star: “I know they’re doing other things now, so I’m happy for them.”

Introduced as Carrie’s co-worker and then a love interest of Miranda, standup comic Che was one of the series’ most disliked characters.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair’s Still Watching podcast, And Just Like That director Michael Patrick King claimed he knows why the negative response to Che intensified.

“I think it was all fine until Che fingered Miranda in the kitchen, while Carrie was peeing in the Snapple bottle,” King said in reference to the debut season’s jaw-dropping sex scene that “terrorised” fans.

“I think that freaked the audience out so much that they went into some sort of seatbelt mode with the first season. Like, what’s gonna happen next if that happened?

“Che was great the first couple of episodes. And then once the finger happened... Che became a villain.”