HBO/ Courtesy: Everett; Anthony Neste/Getty Sharing directors is one thing, butaspettaon the catering. The latest episode ofAre You a Charlotte?,Kristin Davis' charming rewatch podcast ofSex and the City, boasts director Allen Coulter, one of the in-house auteurs at HBO during their years of ascent in the late 1990s. And though the two shows had greatly different audiences and tones, he was the first of several directors to cross fromThe SopranostoSex and the City(and back again) in those days. Indeed, both shows being early HBO productions shared many resources, including indoor shooting locations. Davis recalled a time when both series were filming at Silvercup Studios in Queens (you may know its roof from the 1986 action-fantasyHighlander), where, unfortunately, there wasn't quite the generosity between the sibling shows as she had hoped for. HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection "Remember that middle area of Silvercup, because it had been the bread factory, so it wasn't really a proper studio?" Davis asked her old director. "And the different stages would have a common area of hallways, andThe Sopranoswould have their craft services, which was like going to the best Italian restaurant that you could possibly imagine. And our craft services was really, really... not that." Davis, always polite, quickly added, "No offense to anyone who made it. But we would just be like, 'How can we get over there and get the food?' And they would guard that food, do you know what I mean? They'd be like, 'No. You can't come over here.' And we'd be like, 'Please, can we have some meatballs?'" Davis further explained, "On hour 15, you're really wanting theSopranosmeatballs, but you can't have them." Coulter apologized on behalf of "the mob was keeping you away from the food," which then triggered a memory he had, as one of the few with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of both shows. What you probably need to know is that in most movies, shows, television commercials — anything that involves actors eating food — the people on camera usually don't actually swallow what's on their plate. When it gets to take 16, this would lead to greatagita. ButThe Sopranoswas special. "I remember we were shooting a scene at the Bada Bing, you know, the so-called backroom of the Bada Bing, where they're all having lunch and pasta and stuff. When shooting an eating scene, and this would be true ofSex and the City, you always have a spit bucket." HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection Coulter continued, "So we're shooting that and I go over and I was looking at the guys and the guys had the spit bucket up on the table there, but it's completely clean. I said, 'What's the deal there?' They said, 'They just eat everything.' So we did, like, four takes and they would eat four meals." But Davis added that, surprisingly, onSATC, they never used a spit bucket either. "I think it was becauseMichael [Patrick King]and I feel like alsoDarren [Star]really wanted us to eat and keep talking. So, like, we didn't really have the opportunity to be like, 'Okay, spit.' You know?" Davis then noted, however, that "we would order something that wasn't gonna be insane, right, for eight million takes or whatever." One assumes that if they were chowing down on Artie Bucco'szuppa di musselsorcannelloniwith the fresh béchamel, it would be a different story. HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. For more of Kristin Davis chatting with Allen Coulter, click on the link below. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
