Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Kristin Davis

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

More of my interview with 'Sex and The City' and ‘And Just Like That...’ star Kristin Davis. Kristin digs more into the conversations she has with her kids about race and her own realizations around inclusivity.Plus, she reflects on her early career, sobriety, and the surprising job that required some medical assistance to calm the nerves. This episode was recorded at Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, CA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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at your local Boershead deli counter. Boershead, committed to craft since 1905. Hey, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Here's a little side dish from this week's episode of Dinners on Me. This week we had Kristen Davis. host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte? And of course, you know her from Sex and the City and Just Like That.

We met at Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica. We talked about Kristen's early days in New York City, the winding path that led to one of television's most iconic roles, and how the city shaped both her career and sense of self. We're jumping into a conversation as Kristen reflects more on the nuances of transracial adoption and the conversation she has with her black son and daughter. What is their relationship like? Do they talk about their crazy white mother with each other?

Not that I'm aware of, Jesse. He's only eight, so I mean, I don't think that they, I don't know. I should ask them that. Maybe I'll ask them that when they get home from school today. I don't think they do know. Yeah. Justin and I always talk about that. Really?

With our kids. I mean, they're too young to really be. Disgusting. Right, right, right. I'm happy that they have each other for when that discussion is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm really happy that, yes. I'm really happy that mine have each other, for sure, for sure.

I mean, sometimes, I'll say to my daughter who's 14, right, who's much more aware of things, you know, now than she was when she was young. And I said to her something about. about, we were at this event, excuse me, and they, there were, I felt like the event was kind of white-centered. Yes. I'm good, yes. Thank you so much.

It was excellent. It just seemed more white-centered than it had to be. It was a diverse group of people, but the white people were, like, in charge of talking. And I said, Gemma, don't you feel like this is kind of like white-centered? She said, I don't know what you mean, mom. And I was like, okay. You know, because 14-year-olds. So she wasn't seeing it, but she wore.

No. And I mean, I'm not sure, right? Like, I ask her, like, what's your opinion? She probably was just that age where it said that wasn't really. Exactly. At least on that day. Exactly. And, I mean, I also think she goes a lot on vibe, right?

So, like, sometimes if we go somewhere and it's, like, really white, like, she'll just be more quiet. You know, I'll just see there's, like a quiet, like a less active kind of outgoing part of her, which kind of breaks my heart. but I also understand, but that's why I pick where we go really carefully, you know. But I asked her this question that day, and my thought is also like, first of all, I want to hear her actual opinion. Second of all, maybe I'm wrong, but I still want to ask the question because I want her to be thinking about it. I don't want her to just take for granted whatever situation I'm putting her in as being normal. I wanted to question it, you know, is it white-centered? Is it not? Is it inclusive? Is it not? You know? So I think from that perspective, that's kind of my job is just to raise the topic so that they know that I'm not afraid to raise the topic.

Yeah. Because sometimes when you're white, it's like everything's organized around us and you have to kind of turn it upside down a bit. Like I try to put us in circumstances where I might be the only white person, you know? If you think about in your life, like, how many times are you in a room where you're the only white person? Probably not that often, right? Yeah. You have to look for it. Yeah. And for my kids, that's important. Yes. It's interesting.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I answered your questions. You did I answer your question? Okay. You did. Yeah. I mean, it's all, it's very, it's, it's, it's, it's something that not a lot of people

experience it, a lot of, I mean, you have a very, uh, unique experience. I just, I just, I also think it was very relatable. I mean, just even hearing you talk about your daughter saying, Mom, I wasn't even thinking about that. I mean, there's so many things I remember my parents talking to me about. I'm like, Mom, I'm like, no. It was very much like that. It was very much like that.

But I also thought later, I had to think that through, like, was that bad that I asked that? And I was like, no, it's fine. First of all, that's a very teenage response. Yes, exactly. Totally cool. Totally cool. Right. But then secondarily, I just wanted to think about it. Maybe it's later that she thinks about it.

You know, like, oh, is that white center? You know what I'm saying? Just want the question to be out there. And then it's okay to discuss that and to say, yeah, that was really white-centered. Right, right, right. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Kristen looks back on her earliest days as a young actor in New York, including the commercial editions she tried to talk herself out of.

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When, I mean, when you started acting, you were in New York, right? Am I right? I'm thinking of that. Well, you went to... I was a kid. Did you come to... Did you go to graduate school in New York? No, you did it.

I went to undergrad at Rutgers. Okay. Okay, got it, got it, got it. I got a BFA in theater in acting. And then I just wanted to be on the stage. I didn't want to... I was just telling someone this the other day. When we graduated, we would get a showcase, you know, a showcase.

Yes, of course. And a lot of agents and people came. And afterwards, I got a lot of cards. I had like a little stack of cards. And I was just like, I don't know, because I wasn't a big deal at school. I wasn't, I didn't get cast in all the plays or anything like that. Everyone was like, you know, she, she got cards from agents. The people were kind of like thrown off.

And I was like, I don't know, guys. I don't know. I don't know. You were just surprised? Totally. Shocked and like slightly embarrassed, I would say. you know. And then one of the first agents that I went to see was a commercial agent. And I went, and they were very nice, small agency in New York. And I said, you know, I'm not commercial. So I don't

know why you guys want to meet me. But they were like, oh, no, you are, you are. Trust us. And I was like, no, no, really, I'm not. I'm not. I literally tried to talk them out of it, like for a while. And they said, just humorous, just go on one or two, just one or two auditions. And so I was like, but why? No one's going to hire me. I mean, it's so crazy that thank God they didn't listen to me. Because you immediately booked something? I mean, pretty soon, or I wouldn't have kept going.

Because I really did feel like, no. Like, in my gut, I just, I don't know why we have these ideas. You had such a different perspective of yourself, yeah. Yeah, I don't know why. And thank God, they pushed me to do it. And I went, and then eventually I booked one. And A, it was really fun. But B, you get those checks for a while.

I know. The commercials, I only booked one or two, but it really did float me. It's so funny, I also had a showcase, and I had only one agent who wanted to work with me. And I was really excited to get anyone. I was like, this is great, because I also was not super encouraged in school. Like, I didn't feel like I wasn't getting, I don't know. It's so interesting because I met with, I saw one of my old classmates recently who hadn't seen in a while. I'm like, oh, no, everyone knew that you were, like, you were, like, set.

And, like, I did not get that. I didn't feel that at all. But this manager, or agent, rather, worked with me, and he told me later. He's, like, the only reason I called you is because I needed someone in my, like, roster with red hair. He told me that. He told me that. I was like, oh, God, you actually said that out loud.

Wow. But I was like, you know, I mean, whatever, whatever got me in the door. Definitely. I remember him, it was back in the days where all the head shots were black and white. Oh, yeah. And he was really concerned that people weren't, as he was mailing things, and I'm going to be able to see how vibrant my hair was. Wow.

So he had me take, like, little, like, secondary headshots that he would staple to the corner of the head shots that were color. Wow. Yeah, yeah. Did the red hair, like, opened doors for you? I don't think so. Okay. It's really funny that he felt like his rust. He needed that. He needed a redhead.

But also, isn't it just insane to think about the weirdnesses that we deal with and that somehow we're able to get through? Yeah. You know? I know. And if that had happened to me later in life, I think I would have been really discouraged by that. But for some reason, because I was 22 or 21 years old, like I just, maybe even younger, maybe 20. Like, I just, it didn't bother me.

I was like, great. I have red hair. right here. Like, let's make a deal here. Absolutely. You were just like, I'm going to, I'm going to roll with this. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Kristen shares a surreal full circle moment of filming sex in the city and neighborhoods she once walked through as a struggling waitress and aspiring actor. And she reveals what scared her even more than auditioning in her 20s.

Okay, be right back. Hey, pts, you didn't hear this for me, but normal gossip is back for its ninth season. join me, Rachel Hampton, as I share the juiciest gossip from the real world with some very special guests. This season, we're bringing back some old friends, a Radiotopia buddy, and for the first time ever, a Nobel laureate. That's right. We have Malala on season nine. Normal gossip is out on all your favorite podcast platforms. And we're back with more dinners on me. What was your first big job that you got that felt like, okay, I now have an opportunity to maybe do this for a living? I mean, I had enough almost like breadcrumbs along the way to keep me in it, you know?

So like right when I got out of school, I booked a regional theater job. I want to say in the first year, I could be wrong, but like not that long into it. You know what I'm saying? Maybe a year and a half. And I thought that was amazing. And that seemed like a great way to live. Until I started doing it a little bit. And I was like, oh, no, this is really hard.

Like I went to Cincinnati. I did much to about nothing. At Cincinnati Playhouse in the park. Mm-hmm. I played hero. It was really fun. But you make no money. Of course.

You're in Cincinnati. And then you have to go back to your little apartment that hopefully you still have in the city or Hoboken. At that point, I lived in Hoboken, I think. You know, it's just hard. You can't ever really. Is your roommates? Yeah. Yeah.

I had one room. I want to say, yeah. Maybe I lived in, I had a little time where I lived on the edge of Gramercy Park. Oh, how chic. It was. It wasn't really chic. It just seemed chic. It made me laugh when we did it just like that.

And they have Harry moved to Granite Park. I was like, yeah, this is so not what I was experiencing. But did you have like a full circle moment when. I did. I'm sure, I mean, I'm sure you were in areas of that city where like, you know, 20 years ago, 20, 30 years ago, you were like, I used to. yeah have such a different life. One of the big ones we shot at the limelight when it was still open. You know, now it's not, right? And I lived on- The limelight for people who don't know. Sorry, yes, thank you. Because it's so great. It's worth mentioning. It's this old church that was a

club. And then it became like a stores. Yeah, a store or like a retail. Yeah, I don't even know. But now I don't even know if it's anything. But I mean, it was, you walk in and it was really, it was like a cathedral. Yeah. And with, you know, all these different like rooms and like, Yeah, it was really fun. Yeah. Really fun. We filmed there, I think, early, like, first season, I want to say, maybe. And then, you know, it's such a landmark, right?

Like, you just know when you're in the neighborhood or whatever. But I used to live on 18th, East 18th, and I had a restaurant job in Chelsea. So I would walk there and walk home. Uh-huh. And I would walk by it. I was already sober. So I wasn't going to these places at that point. But I would walk by it on my way home when I was a waitress.

waitress, want to be actress. I'd be like, oh, the limelight. Yeah, it was interesting. And then you end up shooting there. Yeah, and then later on, Carrie lives like a rather corner from there, which is funny. Yeah. Yeah. New York is such a funny place.

Was it, I mean, you also, you know, you're talking about being sober and like, you know, but also like getting to sort of live this alternate life with Charlotte who was like not sober at all, like, you know, at places like limelight. I mean, kind of. She wasn't quite this. super cool. She would go to places with that. Oh, she definitely. She enjoyed the Cosmo. I mean, I think she drank whatever they drank. You know what I mean? But yeah, that was fun. It was fun. It's fun to be pretend tipsy or drunk, much more fun than real. Right, right, right, right. Because

Charlotte's also funny, you know what I mean? So being a funny character, drinking a lot more fun than real drinking. For me, at least, for me. for me. I don't know how anyone really now, too, though, now the world is so different, you know. But like back then there were so many, like you had to just get through the nose. You know, like there were so many nose.

You just had to get through it. Now you could make your videos on fine and no, no, no, no. There's so many other ways to get people to notice you. Absolutely. Like, we had to actually show up. We had to somehow get into that room, which was really hard. And then we had to, like, live through that room. I was a horrible auditioner.

Were you? horrible. Really? I was just very... Consistently. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I mean, it took me a long time. No one said that, but I kind of

think that. Like, I would just get close on a lot of things, but not get them, you know? You've done Broadway, though. I've done theater. I have done theater, but I cannot sing and dance. My daughter tells me that I can, but I'm like, I just think you're biased.

I don't think so. I don't think so. Usually your kids are like, you can't. Like, they tell you, you can't do things that you think you're good at. that. That's kind of true. Like when I sing for my kids,

like, that's not good. And I'm like, I've been paid to sing. Wow. Wow. So if your daughter's saying, you can sing.

I think you can just being sweet to me. Oh, sweet to me. Yeah, but congratulations on your drama desk. That's a very big deal. Thank you. I mean,

amazing. Thank you. And for a one man show, that's like my worst nightmare. I would die. I would die. Die. I would never.

I would have like no sleep. I would just, I don't even know how you do it. It is. It's astonishing what fear can make you do. But fear's a really good motivator. Why did you say yes? Like, like...

I know, I know. I pretty consistently say yes to things that scare me now. Amazing. Because after doing Modern Family for 11 years, and maybe you feel the same way with your show. Like, I just feel like any opportunity to take me out of my comfort zone is something I want to do. It's rare. Yeah, yeah.

I was really in my comfort zone for so long. For sure. No, I'd like to stay in my comfort zone. You do. Yeah, totally. No. You know, if I actually think about it, no, there's one thing that I've signed on to that's coming a totally different, not acting thing, but like thing.

I don't even know how to describe it. And I'm like, what was I thinking? It's kind of like that. Like, in the moment, you're like, wow, I can't believe someone's asking me to do this. And then you're like, yes. And then later on you're like, no. Is it like running wild with bare grills or something? Are you going to like...

No, but that would be scary. No, I've never been asked. Have you been asked? I've done it. Did you do it? I did it. What did you have to do? What did you have to eat? I went to the Dolomites. Wow. And I, what I had to eat, I will tell you this. So we were up in the mountains and it was, you know, snowing and we were like scaling a knife ridge of a mountain.

And it was very, it was, we made an igloat asleep in. Oh my God. And what I ate was there was a goat or something that had fallen off the mountain and was like sticking. It's like legs were like sticking out of the snow. And I, I mean, I'm sorry in advance to anyone who doesn't want to hear this, but I hacked off the leg. Did it like in my backpack? Took it to camp. Did Bear tell you to do this?

Yeah, he told me out to it. I mean, I would not have done any of it. I'm like, on my own. Yeah, Bear gave me all these clear instructions. Okay, okay, okay. Like I was like, where on the leg do I chop? Oh my God. I need you watch this.

It's pretty entertaining. A lot of, oh my God's, oh my God. I can only imagine. And then we'd like boiled the meat and had, I hate that. Oh, no, no. See, I don't think I'm cut out for that. I don't think I can do that. I've never been asked, so I haven't had to.

But I'm sure if I was asked, I'd just be like, wow, I should try. And then I'd be like, oh, no, what did I get myself into? What is the, like, are you allowed to say with the things like? I'm not allowed to say. I shouldn't have brought it up because that's so mean. But it's something different that people who do what we do are occasionally asked to do. And when the announcement comes out, you'd be like, that's what it was. Right.

But it is scary now because now I'm like, oh my God, I did say yes. and I am going to actually have to do it. I have like nine guesses in my head. And I'm not going to guess because... It was really mean. I don't want to say yes. Yeah, I don't want to say yes. I don't even really know the protocol,

but I'm 99% sure I'm not supposed to say yes. You probably even should... Like, already they're mad at you for even bringing it up. Probably. Probably my publicist is like kicking me under the table and I don't know it right now. But, you know, it's one of those things too

where I think that in life you feel like we've gotten to this point and we're so lucky. that we do what we do and were in these positions where people would ask to do things? You know, they're like, would you do this? And you're like, well, I should say yes. That's an incredible thing

that anyone would ask me to do such a thing. Like just recently I had another experience like this where they asked me to give the commencement address at my mom's university. I'd already done the acting school that I went to within Rutgers, which was totally doable because it was two actors and musicians. I'd be comfortable speaking to my people.

Right. But this was Colorado University Boulder. Regular, regular people, okay? And I was just like... You were born in Boulder, but you weren't there for very long, were you? So I was five, I think, and I really loved it. And my mom loved it. And my grandparents lived there for a long time, so we went back every year.

It's a special thing that they asked you to go to your mother's. My mom, I know. I know it was a student committee. Oh, wow. Because I was like, how could this be? Right. How could this be? It was a student-led committee.

whom I met all women, young women, so impressive. And it was huge. It was 40,000 people in a stadium, a football stadium. And you did it. Thought I was going to die. I had to get beta blockers. But it worked. I did it.

40,000 people? Yeah, they stood up. They gave me a standing ovation. Of course you did. I know. I'm still shocked, though. I'm still like, how did that happen? How did that happen?

It was crazy. And who did? So I assumed you wrote, did you have someone to help you? I did not. I should have probably. Thank you so much. I should have. I thought about it later, you know?

Yeah. Like there was a speech writer at the lunch that we went to later who helped the chancellor. I was like, huh, probably should have done that. Didn't think of it. Do you ever like call upon writers from Sex and City? I thought about that. I used to do that a lot with the modern family writers. And I was like, they probably hate that I do this all time.

Like, ask them to do what they do for free. Well, that's true. But I think they're flattered. And I think when you're working together, it's. such a group thing. Yeah, well, they understand like my, my cadence, my humor. So it's like, you will get, like, what works on me more than anyone else. Well, so, like, I'd rather you do it. It's true. But also, I feel like I'm asking them to, like, you know, throw me a bone for... Well, that is true. You are. You are. But I think they're flattered. You really. I mean,

I almost asked Michael to write a joke or two for me, because I do know that it's important to be funny. Yes. But then I was like, I don't know that I'm going to have the wherewithal to tell a Like, I'm going to be so scared at the beginning, which I was. You know, I had to really, like, ease in. So I decided to just, like, talk about my personal self, like, Boulder and, you know, start that way, which I did. And it seemed to go well. That was a little more from my conversation with Kristen Davis.

If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on Diner's on Me. This episode of Diner's On Me was recorded at Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, California. Next week on Diner's On Me, you know her from The Good Place, a league of their own, and the new peacock drama, five-star weekend. It's Darcy Cardin. We talk about the surreal experience of being nominated for an Emmy during the pandemic.

The hustle it took to make it in New York, including Nannning for a Saturday Night Live Alarm, and the career-changing moment that led to The Good Place. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay.

Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Baer engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.