‘Sex and the City’ star Evan Handler pens another bio - Entertainment, Books - Navy Times

‘Sex and the City’ star Evan Handler pens another bio

Evan Handler lured women into loving his character, Harry Goldenblatt, in HBO’s “Sex and the City.” He was the divorce lawyer who became the unlikely, sensitive, sweet husband of Charlotte York, portrayed by Kristin Davis.

On Showtime’s “Californication,” he takes a more rancorous turn as Charlie, the best friend and agent of Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny.

But if you really want to know Handler, you’ll find him in his new memoir, “It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and Bad News of Being Alive.” In it, you’ll unearth a guy who’s gone through 27 breakups (spread over 10 relationships), who wasn’t supposed to survive his 20s due to acute myeloid leukemia, and who, in recent years, has found happiness with a wife wholly unlike him and parental joy in a daughter he didn’t think he could have.

While relaxing at home in Los Angeles, he chatted with the Free Press about writing, sex and being naked on camera.

Question: What are your thoughts about being a character in two shows that revolve around sex?

Answer: I think it’s pretty great. Sex was always of interest to me. These are not direct representations of my own experiences or feelings about sex, although I think they’re both really great, funny shows with a lot of heart and honesty to them — even though they each get into their own outrageousness. ... I think sex is something that’s been handled very perversely in our culture. I mean, it’s often not handled at all or not handled well. So to get to be in two popular sex comedies is great.

Q: Talk about the reaction you still get when people see you, in terms of connecting you with Harry Goldenblatt in “Sex and the City.”

A: It definitely has become the way most people identify me. As I go around, now there’s people familiar with a wide variety of my work. ... But Harry still would be the majority. ...

You know, in the book, “It’s Only Temporary,” I talk a lot about ... the irony in that I suddenly become recognizable and seemingly desirable to a large number of young women on my first date with the woman who would become my wife. So two very sought-after fantasies — but incompatible fantasies — begin to be fulfilled simultaneously.

Q: You must still get a reaction from the “Sex” episode where you’re totally naked.

A: That episode contained all kinds of strategically placed vases of flowers. It was the first time I did anything like that. It’s strange to be the only naked person in a group of 20 or 40 or so people. Once I was in “Californication,” there is so much nudity and blatant sexual situations that it made that day of Harry sitting naked on couches seem pretty quaint in comparison.

Q: Have you talked to David Duchovny at all since he left treatment for sex addiction?

A: I have not spoken to David since our last day of shooting the season that’s currently airing. I mean, I can say that David and I have a great working relationship, but never once has he shared any of his private or personal life with me. ... And I’ve been told he’s doing well, so I would say that I’m blissfully ignorant in this situation.

Q: Your last memoir was about 11 years ago. What compelled you to say, “It’s time for another one?”

A: So the first book was really a blow-by-blow account of managing to survive a supposedly incurable illness, and this is the story of really reintegrating myself in life and reinvesting myself in life and the 20 years since becoming declared cured of the illness and the surprising irony and complexities of being able to re-embrace life. ...

I came out of that experience really having lived my life backwards, in a sense, being reduced in my 20s to a dying old man and re-emerging around 30 and trying to live my 20s in my 30s, not sure whether the future could be trusted or not.

Q: What does writing give you that acting doesn’t?

A: Well, it’s certainly a more direct expression of my own thoughts than when I’m saying somebody else’s lines, pretending to be a character I’m not. There’s still a certain performance to it because I’m giving a performance of a certain version of myself that I want to give to people. ... Writing a memoir offers me the most direct expression that I know of, to talk directly to people about things that matter to me.

Evan Handler’s new book, “It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and Bad News of Being Alive” (Riverhead 2008), is available at major bookstores and at Amazon.com at $24.95. For more info, check out http://www.evanhandler.com/2.0/.