Doing her best. Cynthia Nixon shared an update on how her And Just Like That costar Sarah Jessica Parker is doing following the death of her stepfather, Paul Giffin Forste, last month.
“I think it’s really, really tough, you know?” Nixon, 56, told Page Six on Monday, October 10, about how Parker, 57, was doing amid the grieving process. “It’s not just tough for her own loss but certainly for her mom.” The Hocus Pocus star’s mother, Barbara Parker, was married to Forste for more than 50 years.
Last month, Us Weekly confirmed that Forste had died after an undisclosed illness on September 29 at the age of 76.
In a statement to Us at the time, a rep for the Sex and the City alum said that Sarah Jessica’s stepfather was “surrounded with the love and gratitude of his adored wife Barbara of 54 years and children.” The New Year’s Eve star, for her part, was also with Forste at the time of his passing.
“Paul will be remembered with the spirit of loving kindness which was his faith, his special delight in his 13 grandchildren, and his sustained belief in making the world a more charitable, tolerant and beautiful place for all,” the statement concluded.
News of Forste’s death came just hours after it was reported that the Family Stone actress — who shares son James Wilke, 19, and twin daughters Marion and Tabitha, 13, with husband Matthew Broderick — had missed the New York City Ballet’s 10th Annual Fall Fashion Gala following a “sudden devastating family situation.” Parker serves as the vice chair of the NYCB’s board of directors and has attended every autumn gala since its 2012 debut.
Following his passing, the Divorce alum took to social media to pen a touching tribute to her loved one.
“Godspeed. RIP. Strong like a bull. Til the end,” Sarah Jessica wrote via Instagram on September 30. “At home and among all those who loved you dearly, you will be missed always. We will take good care of Mommy, who you worshipped for 54 years.”
Forste was a big presence in the HBO star’s life starting from the age of three. Throughout the years, the Ohio native has been vocal about her difficult childhood.
“We were on welfare,” Sarah Jessica told the New York Times in 2000. “I remember being poor. There was no great way to hide it. We didn’t have electricity sometimes. We didn’t have Christmases sometimes, or we didn’t have birthdays sometimes, or the bill collectors came, or the phone company would call and say, ‘We’re shutting your phones off.’”
Despite their hardship, the Square Pegs alum and her seven siblings grew up in a house full of love — something she and Broderick, 60 — made sure to instill in their own home.
“I thought a lot about my children and their romantic life. Matthew and I would do our very best to be decent and civilized and hospitable to somebody who we’d think is not deserving or worthy of our children,” Sarah Jessica told Vulture in December 2018 “It would be a thrill. I don’t know what you do if you don’t care for a child’s romantic selection. I don’t know how you’re supposed to get through that.”
While the Ed Wood actress may be grieving in her personal life, her career has kept her busy. In addition to the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2 last month, she — along with Nixon and Kristin Davis — have begun filming for And Just Like That season 2.
“It’s very, very, very exciting,” Nixon teased to Page Six on Monday. “Sarah Jessica, Kristin [Davis] and I have been texting each other a lot. We did a read-through of the first two episodes a couple of weeks ago and that was amazing and exciting, as it was the first time we were reading it.”
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