Sarah Jessica: Always & Forever

Few actresses carve a permanent place in our hearts, but SARAH JESSICA PARKER is one of them. From Sex And The City to Divorce, she can do no wrong, says Annabel Meggeson

- Annabel Meggeson

Sarah Jessica Parker is trying to resist sending an e-mail. It’s a reminder to her husband, Matthew Broderick, to make sure a school form has been signed and returned, and that their son, James Wilkie, 14, needs to clear out his backpack tomorrow, as he does every Wednesday.

‘There’s a file under his desk and all his papers from the week – whether it’s Latin or history – have to go in.’

Despite being 5 600km away from her Manhattan home (Sarah is in London to promote her unisex perfume Stash SJP. ‘Now I can say I’ve made a fragrance for humans!’ she says of the black-pepper-and-patchouli-laced perfume, which I happen to think is her best to date), she’s struggling to loosen her grip on the details of daily life chez Parker-Broderick.

‘I do a lot, because I’m controlling,’ she says, when I ask if she and Matthew share domestic duties. ‘I’m a person who’s fastidious and exacting, and so I do a huge amount. What is surprising is how much [my husband] can do and does in my absence. Everybody gets where they need to be. But still, he’s not going to put everything away at night. When I come home, I can see the path.’

Ah, yes, the notorious man trail. In our house we have ‘Annabel clean’ and ‘Jason clean’, I tell her. ‘Oh, that’s so great! I’m going to use that from now on. Is it SJ clean or Matthew clean?!’

In the end, she doesn’t send the e-mail. ‘They really must do it their way,’ she concedes. But which working mother doesn’t understand the conflict between wanting a man to share in the duties, then immediately jumping in to make sure it’s done a certain way?