“Sex And The City” Star John Corbett Has Admitted That Being An Actor Is “Unfulfilling” And Said That He Chose The “Wrong Thing” To Do With His Life

“Every day is like a guy marking the wall like: ‘I’ll get out of here soon,’” John said of his acting career in a seriously unfiltered podcast appearance.

By
Stephanie Soteriou
by Stephanie Soteriou

BuzzFeed Staff

It’s fair to say that John Corbett has had a pretty successful acting career since starting out in the 1980s, with the star arguably best known for playing Carrie Bradshaw’s love interest Aidan Shaw in Sex and the City.

Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett share a kiss on a street at night, with Sarah wearing a long coat and holding flowers, while John is in a dark jacket
James Devaney / GC Images

Last year, John reprised the role for the show’s sequel series, And Just Like That..., and he is also renowned for playing Ian Miller in the hugely successful My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise.

Nia Vardalos, in a denim shirt, gestures while standing next to John Corbett, in a button-up shirt. They are in a kitchen setting
George Kraychyk/ ©Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

For younger audiences, John is known as Lara Jean’s dad in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before movies and accompanying TV series XO, Kitty.

John Corbett in a scene from To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

And older fans perhaps know him for his role of Chris Stevens in the ‘90s comedy-drama Northern Exposure, for which he earned an Emmy nomination in 1992.

John Corbett in Northern Exposure
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

But despite all of this, 63-year-old John admitted in a recent podcast appearance that he doesn’t feel fulfilled by acting — and actually believes that he may have chosen the wrong career path.

John Corbett stands on the red carpet in a black suit jacket over a black t-shirt at the "To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You" premiere event
Phillip Faraone / Getty Images

Speaking on the Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade podcast, John explained that when he moved from West Virginia to California at the age of 19, he didn’t intend to become a TV star.


Instead, he relocated to Los Angeles in a bid to reconnect with his estranged father, who lived there, and started working as a boilermaker soon after he arrived. When an injury in his early 20s forced him out of this profession, John went to college and began training to be a hairdresser.


During this time, John also started booking work as an extra in TV shows and movies, and when he booked his first commercial job, he left school and started to pursue acting full-time. 


But despite this decision working out pretty well for him, he has now admitted that acting hasn’t nourished him creatively.

Opening up to Dana and David, John said: “Look, I’m at the fourth quarter of the football game now, in life and in showbiz. It’s just a fact. So I can reveal now I picked the fucking wrong thing to do with my life.”

John Corbett wearing a casual shirt and gray pants, standing on a sidewalk with a woman nearby during a film shoot. Film crew and equipment in the background
Jason Howard / GC Images

“Being an actor is… For one, since I was a kid, I hate to be told what to do by any authority figure,” he went on. “So I picked something to do for my whole life, which is: ‘Dude, stand here! Say this! Put this on! Look this way! Say it faster! Cut your hair like this!’”


“I’m not Emma fucking Stone in Poor Things where I’m collaborating,” John added, referencing the way that some actors also take on producer roles in productions. “I’m not collaborating with the writers. Have you ever sat in the waiting room of a doctor’s office for, like, an hour and you’re going: ‘What the fuck?’ For me, that’s what making a movie is like, because I’m not part of any creative process."

“For anybody listening, it’s going to sound like I’m an ungrateful prick,” he then acknowledged. “But I’m just telling you, for my work life, I’ve made a lot of money, I live in a beautiful home, people come to me in every fucking restaurant I go in — I'm a friend to the world! But as far as a fulfilling, creative work life? I didn't write one fucking line. I didn’t write one joke to make people laugh, so it's been unfulfilling on that level.”

John Corbett, wearing a suit and tie, stands on a red carpet at an event
Kevin Winter / Getty Images for TNT

“There were some good times here and there, but most of it is sitting waiting for them to fucking knock on your door and go: ‘Hey, we need you to come back and say that thing again,’ and to me, it’s such a boring fucking life,” John explained. “Anybody listening who has never been on a movie set, if you came to visit any one of us for two days, just two of those 14-hour days, you’d say: ‘I never want to be here ever, ever again. This is like watching paint dry.’”


John then said that even if he were to be offered accommodation in the most luxurious hotels in the world, he is at a point in his life where he just wants to be in his own home with his wife, Bo Derek, and their pets. 


“I like being at home with Bo and the dogs, and I don’t want to go to fucking Little Rock — even if you’re in the penthouse of the fucking Hyatt in Singapore, you’re still not in your own fucking bed, and you’re gone for six weeks, and for me, I can’t. Every day is like a guy marking the wall like: ‘I’ll get out of here soon,’” John said. “So at this point in my life, if something seems really, really fucking fun, I’ll say ‘yes.’ But then I get there, two days later, I’m always saying: ‘Why did I fucking say yes?!’”

John also admitted that how unreliable acting can be is another factor in his lack of fulfillment, explaining: “At my best, I work five or six weeks a year. I have to sit and wait for the phone to ring, and in ’22, it never rang once. So for that whole year, I’m like: ‘Besides playing my guitar and piano at home, how do I express myself?’”

John Corbett in a casual outfit with a green jacket and jeans at an FX event
Greg Doherty / Getty Images

Earlier this year, John was spotted filming scenes for And Just Like That...’s upcoming third season on location in New York City. 


He also recently starred in the movie On Fire, which is currently in post-production.

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