Kim Cattrall Kim Cattrall is the English - Canadian actress who played Valeris in . She received a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction , Fantasy & Horror Films for her performance in the film . In early script drafts , Valeris was supposed to be Saavik , the original role for which Cattrall was already considered as an alternative back in 1981 for . However , she turned out to be unavailable for the part , which ultimately went to Kirstie Alley , of whom Nicholas Meyer , the director of not only that movie , but of " The Undiscovered Country " as well , recalled , " " She auditioned for me , along with many others . " " ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , pp . 123 - 124 ; DVD - special feature , " audio commentary " ) When she was finally cast for the role of Valeris , Cattrall actually refused the part at first , as she was under the false impression that she had to be the third actress to portray Saavik ( for which , ironically , Alley tuned out to be unavailable ) , but jumped at the opportunity when she learned that that was not to be the case , as she considered Saavik " just a girl , " whereas she considered Valeris " a woman . " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 22 , No . 5 , p . 31 ; " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 ed . , pp . 374 - 375 ) She was also one of the thirteen final actresses who auditioned for the part of Vixis in , but the role went to Spice Williams . ( Source : " Spice Williams " ) Personal life . Cattrall was born in Liverpool , England . When she was three months old , Cattrall and her family emigrated to Courtenay , British Columbia , in Canada . Cattrall returned to England when she was eleven , where she took acting examinations with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . She soon returned to Canada to finish her final year of secondary school and left for the United States after graduating high school in 1972 . Cattrall has been married three times , with her most recent marriage to audio engineer Mark Levinson ending in 2004 . She was at one time engaged to guest star Daniel Benzali , who played her husband in a 1997 episode of " The Outer Limits " ; however , Cattrall and Benzali separated before going through with the marriage . In 2005 , she was linked with regular Alexander Siddig , with whom she co - starred in a London stage production of " Whose Life Is It Anyway ? " Cattrall avoided being killed on board Pan Am Flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie , Scotland on Wednesday December 21 , 1988 . Cattrall was flying from London to New York and had missed the flight forcing her to take a later flight sparing her from becoming part of the tragedy . Career . Cattrall starred in several popular 1980s films , including " Porky ' s " , " Police Academy " , " Big Trouble in Little China " , and " Mannequin " . She is perhaps best known , however , for her five - time Emmy Award - nominated role as Samantha Jones in the HBO series " Sex and the City " . 1975 – 1980 . In the early 1970s , Cattrall signed a five - year movie contract with director - producer . She made her film debut in Preminger ' s 1975 action - thriller " Rosebud " . The following year , her contract with Preminger was bought out by Universal Studios . She made appearances on several television series for Universal , including " Quincy , M . E . " ( working with Adrienne Barbeau , Robert Ito , William O ' Connell , and Garry Walberg ) , " The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries " ( in a two - parter directed by Joseph Pevney ) , " Columbo " ( with Ed Begley , Jr . and Tricia O ' Neil ) , and " The Incredible Hulk " ( again directed by Joseph Pevney ) . Another project she worked on for Universal was the 1978 mini - series " The Bastard " . This production also starred William Shatner , with whom Cattrall later co - starred on " Star Trek VI " . The cast of " The Bastard " also included " Star Trek " veterans John Colicos , John de Lancie , Ike Eisenmann , James Gregory , Alex Henteloff , and James Whitmore , Jr . , while Robert F . Shugrue was among the editors . Cattrall also appeared in the 1979 sequel to " The Bastard " , entitled " The Rebels " , which was directed by Russ Mayberry and which co - starred Paul Fix , Nehemiah Persoff , Warren Stevens , and Kevin Tighe . Gerald Fried was the movie ' s composer . Cattrall ' s work with Universal also included two other TV movies , 1979 ' s " The Night Rider " ( with Percy Rodriguez , Harris Yulin , and Whit Bissell ) and 1980 ' s " The Gossip Columnist " ( with Stanley Kamel ) . Outside of her contracted Universal projects , she was able to appear in the 1977 TV movie " Good Against Evil " ( with Richard Lynch ) and the 1977 film " Deadly Harvest " ( directed by Timothy Bond and co - starring Nehemiah Persoff ) . She also guest - starred on such television shows as " Logan ' s Run " ( in an episode written by Shimon Wincelberg ) , " Switch " ( with John Fiedler ) , " Starsky and Hutch " ( with David Soul and Joan Pringle ) , and " Charlie ' s Angels " ( directed by Lawrence Dobkin and co - starring Parley Baer and Robert Walker ) . After " The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries " and " The Incredible Hulk " , Cattrall continued her association with director Joseph Pevney by appearing in a segment of " How the West Was One " ( with Jorge Cervera , Jr . , Rex Holman , Roy Jenson , and Mark Lenard ) and an episode of " Hagen " ( with David Opatoshu and Louise Sorel ) . In 1980 , she appeared in the mini - series " Scruples " , along with Paul Carr , the aforementioned John de Lancie , Walker Edmiston , Gary Graham , John Hancock , and Bill Quinn . 1980 – 1990 . In 1980 , Cattrall began making a successful transition to film . That year , she starred in director Bob Clark ' s film " Tribute " . after which she starred opposite Meg Foster and Saul Rubinek in the 1981 Canadian film " Ticket to Heaven " . She then portrayed Miss Honeywell in Bob Clark ' s cult 1982 comedy " Porky ' s " , which became a box office smash . Her co - stars in this film included fellow " Trek " alumni Wyatt Knight , Cyril O ' Reilly , and Nancy Parsons . In 1982 , Cattrall guest - starred in an episode of the medical drama " Trapper John , M . D . " , working alongside Ellen Geer , William Windom , ans series regular Madge Sinclair . ( Cattrall previously appeared on the series in 1979 . ) In 1983 , Cattrall appeared on the short - lived adventure series " Tales of the Gold Monkey " , which starred Stephen Collins and Marta DuBois . Cattrall subsequently co - starred with Kirstie Alley in the 1984 TV movie " Sins of the Past " . This latter project also featured John Anderson , Roger Aaron Brown , Gene Dynarski , and Megan Gallagher . Following the success of " Porky ' s " , Cattrall starred in the 1984 comedy " Police Academy " , which was also a hit at the box office . David Graf had a supporting role in this film , as did Scott Thomson . Unlike many of her co - stars ( including Graf ) , Cattrall did not appear in any of the six " Police Academy " sequels that followed . Her next film was the action - comedy " Turk 182 ! " , her third collaboration with director Bob Clark . Unlike " Porky ' s " , however , it was a box office flop . " Turk 182 ! " also featured Paul Sorvino . Cattrall ' s next major film project was John Carpenter ' s action - adventure hit " Big Trouble in Little China " , in which Jerry Hardin also appeared . The music for this film was co - written by Alan Howarth , who created sound effects for the first six . Cattrall then starred as a mannequin who comes to life in the cult 1987 comedy " Mannequin " . Phil Rubenstein and Steve Vinovich were among those who had supporting roles in this film . In 1988 and 1989 , Cattrall ' s film credits included " Palais Royale " ( with Brian George and Dean Stockwell ) , " Masquerade " ( with John Glover ) , and " The Return of the Musketeers " , in which she played Milady De Winter ' s vengeful daughter . In 1988 , she starred in the comedy " Honeymoon Academy " ( co - starring Jonathan Banks , Charles Rocket , and Leigh Taylor - Young ) , though it was not released until May 1990 . In 1990 , she had a supporting role in the critically - panned film adaptation of Tom Wolfe ' s novel , " The Bonfire of the Vanities " . This film marked her second film acting collaboration with Saul Rubinek after 1981 ' s " Ticket to Heaven " and also featured F . Murray Abraham , Kirsten Dunst , Louis Giambalvo , John Hancock , and Richard Libertini . 1991 – present . After her portrayal of Lieutenant Valeris in " Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country " , Cattrall starred in the 1992 science fiction - action film " Split Second " , which co - starred Michael J . Pollard . Her subsequent films included " Above Suspicion " ( co - starring Ron Canada and Natalia Nogulich ) , " Live Nude Girls " ( with Olivia d ' Abo ) , " Unforgettable " ( with Christopher McDonald ) , and " Where Truth Lies " ( opposite John Savage and Malcolm McDowell and co - starring Eric Pierpoint ) . She also collaborated with her " Porky ' s " director Bob Clark for the fourth and final time , starring with Christopher Lloyd in the 1999 comedy " Baby Geniuses " . On television , Cattrall was a regular on the short - lived series " Angel Falls " , as was Jean Simmons . She also appeared in the 1993 mini - series " Wild Palms " , as did Brad Dourif , Bob Gunton , Bebe Neuwirth , Charles Rocket , and David Warner . She also starred or co - starred in several made - for - TV movies during the 1990s , including 1993 ' s " Running Delilah " ( with Rob LaBelle ) , 1995 ' s " OP Center " ( with Sherman Howard , France Nuyen , John Savage , and Todd Waring ) and " The Heidi Chronicles " ( co - starring Sharon Lawrence ) , 1997 ' s " Robin Cook ' s Invasion " ( with Rosana DeSoto and Neal McDonough ) , 1998 ' s " Modern Vampires " ( with John Fleck ) and " Creature " ( with Michael Reilly Burke ) , and 1999 ' s " 36 Hours to Die " ( again working with Saul Rubinek ) . From 1998 through 2004 , Cattrall starred as sexually promiscuous public relations executive Samantha Jones in the HBO series " Sex and the City " . Jeffrey Nordling appeared in the pilot episode of that hit series and Willie Garson was a recurring guest actor . Cattrall ' s performance as Samantha earned her five Emmy Award nominations , four Golden Globe nominations ( one of which she won ) , and two Screen Actors Guild ( SAG ) Award nominations . In addition , Cattrall and her three principal co - stars ( Sarah Jessica Parker , Cyntha Nixon , and Kristin Davis ) won two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and another three nominations in the same category . While " Sex and the City " was still in production , Cattrall continued taking roles in feature films . She had a supporting role in the 2001 crime thriller " 15 Minutes " , which also featured " Deep Space Nine " star Avery Brooks and " Next Generation " guest actor Kelsey Grammer . She then acted in " The Devil and Daniel Webster " ( with John Savage ) , which , despite being filmed in 2001 , was not released until 2004 . Cattrall also played the mother of Britney Spears ' character in the 2002 drama " Crossroads " , which co - starred Zoë Saldana . After " Sex and the City " wrapped production in 2004 , Cattrall co - starred as an ice skating coach in the 2005 live - action Disney film " Ice Princess " . In 2008 , she reprised her role as Samantha Jones in the feature film adaptation of " Sex and the City " , in which she appeared alongside Willie Garson and Buddy Joe Hooker . Cattrall most recently starred in the acclaimed Roman Polanski film " The Ghost Writer " . She was again seen as Samantha Jones in " Sex and the City 2 " in 2010 . Like the television series and the first film , the sequel also featured Willie Garson in his role as Stanford Blatch .