In the space of just six short series, Sex And The City grew from a cult favourite to one of the most impactful and influential TV shows of the 20th century – meaning it definitely didn’t have to look far for celebrity guests to put in appearances.
By the time its final series aired in 2001, A-list stars were pretty much queuing up to land a role, either as one of the girls’ love interests or in a cameo appearance as themselves.
More interesting, though, is just how many of its supporting actors have gone on to make the big time much later on in their careers, after appearing for brief stints in Sex And The City.
Here are 15 of the big names whose ‘Sex And The City’ appearances might have passed you by until now...
While loads of A-listers appeared in Sex And The City during its six-series run, but Brad is one of the few who did it before making it big.
In the above photo, he’s about to ruin Carrie’s night in season four’s They Shoot Single People, Don’t They?, by thrusting an unflattering photo on the cover of a magazine in her face.
After shooting to fame in the likes of The Hangover, American Hustle and A Star Is Born, Bradley later admitted to telling a pretty hefty lie to land this part in Sex And The City.
Almost a decade before Mad Men came calling, John enjoyed a two-episode stint in Sex And The City as politician Bill Kelley, who woos Carrie when the two of them judge a “hottest firemen” competition on Statten Island.
Their relationship turns sour quickly, though, when he claims her sex column is bad for his image, and she decides she doesn’t want to urinate on him for sexual kicks.
A tale as old as time.
Kat was just 14 years old when she made her TV debut in Sex And The City, playing Jenny Brier, a spoilt brat for whom Samantha helps plan a Bat Mitzvah.
Though the girls are initially envious of the teens’ confidence at such an early age (and Miranda is especially jealous of her friend’s sapphire braces), they eventually learn an important lesson about how rewarding it is to work to get where you are.
And we all learned a lesson about the fabulousness of zebra-print leggings, as you can see in the above photo.
Sex And The City bosses were clearly so impressed with Justin that they had him play two roles in the show.
In series one, he’s introduced as Jared, an obnoxious author Carrie flirts with at a party in a bid to make Mr Big jealous.
Two years later, he played Vaughn, a short story author whose family Carrie is really taken by, even though the man himself has his shortcomings (including, as Samantha would suggestively say, “in the bedroom”).
Will’s first ever small screen role was as a romantic interest for Miranda in Sex And The City, who enjoys having sex in places he can get caught (including his parents’ bed, as Miranda unwittingly discovers at the end of the episode).
Four years later, he got his big break in Arrested Development, and later voiced the title character in cult Netflix series Bojack Horseman.
In Sex And Another City, the gang takes a trip to LA, where Carrie meets a man she’s led to believe is a mover and shaker in the Hollywood scene. Turns out he’s actually just a house-sitter.
At the end of the episode, he gets rumbled by none other than the late, great Carrie Fisher, making a cameo as herself.
So, obviously this wasn’t before Trump became famous, but it was long before he made the jump from the business world to television (and, of course, the White House).
In The Man, The Myth, The Viagra, Trump is shown as a pal of Ed, the older man Samantha eventually takes to bed, before binning him off when she catches a glimpse of his bare bum.
She probably should have dumped him the minute she saw who his friends were, in hindsight.
In season three’s Politically Erect, Elizabeth makes an ever-so-brief appearance as Catherine, a party guest.
Her Sex And The City role actually came so early in her career, the future Pitch Perfect star is billed in the credits under her birth name, Elizabeth Mitchell.
Although he’s now best known for his roles in Third Watch, Nurse Jackie, The Watcer and as Will’s boyfriend in Will And Grace, there was a time when Bobby’s face was best known as the man from Sex And The City with – to quote Samantha herself – “funky-tasting spunk”.
Sigh.
In All That Glitters, Carrie befriends Australian shoe designer Oliver Spencer, who makes her question her mundane home life with Aidan (and, indeed, briefly causes some tension between the columnist and her BFF Stanford Blatch).
Murray’s star has really been on the rise in the last few years, thanks to his roles in The White Lotus, Looking, Welcome To The Chippendales and one particularly heart-wrenching episode of The Last Of Us.
Now an Emmy-winner for her portrayal of Elsbeth in The Good Wife, Carrie once played an interior decorator in Sex And The City, who stole Miranda’s love interest right from under her.
She did give her that sculpture of dancing frogs, though, so clearly she wasn’t all bad.
Incidentally, Carrie Preston is also what leading Sex And The City character Carrie Bradshaw became known by after marrying Mr Big in the first film.
Sex And The City was Eddie’s very first TV credit in Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl. Unfortunately, this is one of the episodes of Sex And The City that has aged the worst, after Carrie becomes visibly uncomfortable to learn the man she’s dating is bisexual.
She does wind up kissing Alanis Morrissette later on, for reasons we’re still not totally clear about.
You know what? Ron can do Boardwalk Empire and he can do Standoff and Search Party and A Million Little Things... but to be honest, whenever we see him, we’re always just reminded of the fact that he broke up with Carrie on a Post-It.
Not here for it.
Thought Miss Claudette looked familiar when you watched Orange Is The New Black for the first time?
Well, that’s probably because you were getting flashbacks to this scene, in which actor Michelle Hurst gives Samantha a grilling ahead of an STD check.
The Glee actor’s Sex And The City appearance literally was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it – he doesn’t even have any lines.
Instead, he plays a busboy in a restaurant where Carrie is trying to enjoy her own company and have a meal by herself.
Yeah, we know, this wasn’t before she was famous. We just like reminding ourselves that this happened, to be honest.
How she wound up dodging a Best Guest Actress nomination at the Emmys is beyond us...