Jim Dykes, New York City actor and tourguide talks about working on SEX AND THE CITY, and provides pictures from the set.

Specialty sightseeing tours are popular in New York…so many different neighborhoods and “themes” to tour. Movie and TV locations are always fun especially since I’ve worked on many of the TV shows and films shot in New York and can add personal stories.
For example, the last few years the Sex and the City locations tour has become so popular all over the world, even though the show is no longer airing new episodes.  There’s even a commercial bus tour that leaves daily and tours people around town showing clips and visiting locations used on the show….it was started by a guide I know and the company is On Location Tours. However, as a guide, I’ve done my own version of this for years.
Unless you’re a fan of the show, all the tour gossip and chit-chat won’t mean much. This week I’m taking a group of German women on the tour! I’ve done Sex and the City tours and other movie/TV specialty tours to many visitors, groups small and large. Corporate & convention groups love to offer it to their attendees especially if they are involved in the cosmetics or fashion industries since the show relied heavily on beauty and fashion.
As a member of Screen Actor’s Guild, I worked on Sex and the City several times.  The first time I worked on it in some key scenes with the stars, I showed up early one morning to shoot my scenes and I was under the impression that I looked nice, but I received a disapproving look from the show’s stylist. I was carefully eyed up and down as she frowned and sent off to the wardrobe and hair departments. As I protested she said: “you look good but remember this is the world of Sex and the City….everyone must look FABULOUS….even small parts.” So they outfitted me in a trendy suit from Barney’s which I could never have afforded, gave me some light makeup and went over my hair with scissors and gel so I looked television ready. I was sent back to the stylist lady for final approval before heading to the cameras.
On my typical Sex and the City locations tour, I usually take people thru the neighborhoods identified with each of the 4 main characters: the Upper Westside home of “Miranda” the lawyer, Upper Eastside home to “Charlotte York”, downtown Meatpacking District home of crazy sex-kitten “Samantha” and the brownstone apartment of star “Carrie” played by Sarah Jessica Parker. We also go by the gallery where Charlotte works, the Sex toys shop where Samantha buys her vibrator “The Rabbit”, several fabulous restaurants, bars and night spots used on the show, the original Magnolia Bakery and much more as time allows.

When I worked on the Sex and the City 2 movie, our early scenes were shot on Fifth Avenue, in and around Bergdorf Goodman and the Plaza Hotel. It started off very calmly and we shot several sidewalk scenes with all the women…Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. I had a funny scene with “Samantha” played by Kim Cattrall. But people began seeing us and texting their friends and in a couple hours the crowds GREW from a few curious bystanders behind barricades to GIGANTIC crowds. Extra New York police were called along with private security to keep the crowds at bay while we finished the day. I snapped a few pics from the set of the cast, the crowds, the crew.




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