Source: Entertainment Weekly

Trey MacDougal is one of the most memorable husbands in Sex and the City history, but Kyle MacLachlan was initially crestfallen when he learned of the plans for his role.

“I haven’t rewatched it, but I remember it being good at the time. I thought one of the strengths, in particular our stuff, was, let’s say, the conceit of what was happening was funny and embarrassing, I’ll be honest,” MacLachlan recently shared in his first appearance on costar Kristin Davis’ SATC rewatch podcast, Are You A Charlotte? “But at the same time, they gave us a chance to deal with it in a fairly educational and understanding way.”

The witty and WASPy MacDougal initially seems to Charlotte, Davis’ prim society girl, like her idealized partner brought to life. The first scale falls from her eyes when she witnesses his neurotic, co-dependent relationship with his matronly mother, Bunny (Frances Sternhagen) up close. Then Charlotte learns that Trey has an ignorable and insurmountable intimate issue — a fact MacLachlan wasn’t too thrilled to discover.

MacLachlan recalled a casting meeting with series creator Darren Star and executive producer Jenny Bicks, which built up and ultimately crashed down his vision of opportunity.

“I’m kind of excited, talking about, you know, ‘I think he’s a guy who spends time in Central Park, he’s probably, there’s maybe some surgery stuff,'” MacLachlan shared. “They were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, fine,’ and they said, ‘But there are two things. One, he’s got kind of an unusual relationship with his mother. She’s domineering, so he’s got a very close [relationship], and he’s impotent.”

Over Davis’ boisterous laughter, MacLachlan recalled his shock: “I was like, ‘He’s impotent?’… You know, just when you think you’re going to get out, they pull you back in. I was like, ‘Oh, mother eff.'”

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MacLachlan is a small screen legend, boasting several iconic roles to his name, including Desperate Housewives’ Orson Hodge, Twin Peaks’ Dale Cooper, and of course, Mr. MacDougal. He’s even come to have a sense of humor about Trey’s performance problems, cheekily telling Entertainment Weekly in 2024 that he’d include raunchy sex comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Blockers on his imagined list of Trey’s favorite films.

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