Whoa: Aidan and Mr. Big from “Sex and the City” were almost played by different actors

We’ve learned so much about Sex and the City in the 12 years (!!!) since the show went off the air. First we heard that Sarah Jessica Parker had a hard time relating to Carrie Bradshaw; then we learned that the “cocktails” the ladies always sipped on were actually colored water and watered-down cranberry juice. And now, we’ve learned something major about casting Carrie’s two main men, Aidan and Mr. Big.

Whether you are Team Aidan or Team Mr. Big, you definitely have the same two actors in mind: John Corbett and Chris Noth. However, Sex and the City creator Darren Star just admitted that he had two other actors in mind when he first was casting for the show.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Darren explained that, initially, he pictured Alec Baldwin as Mr. Big. “I was thinking of Alec Baldwin for Big initially,” he said. “I don’t really watch Law & Order, but I met with Chris Noth and thought he was perfect. I remember the first table read, how good he was. I’m not saying that Chris was Mr. Big, but he brought a lot of his own persona to the role.”

It makes sense when you think about it —  both men do know how to wear a power suit. And now we’re imagining Alec playing Mr. Big, looking at Carrie like:

But that’s not all. Darren also originally thought Elementary star Aidan Quinn would make a good Aidan.

“We initially were thinking about Aidan Quinn for Aidan, but I think he wasn’t available,” he told Entertainment Weekly. I loved John Corbett in Northern Exposure, and we were like, ‘Well, what’s John Corbett been up to?’ He just had the laconic, dudish vibe. But we kept ‘Aidan’ because we loved the name.”

But the roles went to Chris Noth and John Corbett instead . . . and the rest is Sex and the City history.