David Eigenberg Is Best Known for Playing a Bartender in ‘Sex and the City,’ but He’s Sober and Can’t Make a Cosmopolitan
David Eigenberg has spent much of his career playing bartenders. He appeared in Sex and the City as Miranda Hobbes’ bartending love interest, Steve Brady. When that series ended, Eigenberg took on a role in Chicago Fire. He portrays Christopher Herrmann, a firefighter, and part-owner of a bar in the series. While Eigenberg is perfectly comfortable playing bartenders and owners, he does not drink. David Eigenberg has been sober for more than 30 years.
Who did David Eigenberg play in ‘Sex and the City’
David Eigenberg had some acting jobs before Sex and the City, but the series is largely considered his breakout role. Eigenberg portrayed Steve Brady, Miranda Hobbes’ love interest. Miranda met Steve at the bar where he worked in season 2. The duo had what Miranda believed to be a one-night stand, but Steve had other plans.
The duo started dating but broke up when Steve couldn’t handle Miranda’s professional success. They reunited in season 3 but broke up again when Miranda decided Steve’s immaturity was problematic. Later, the couple maintained a friendship and had a baby together after a one-time hookup. They married in the show’s final season and moved to Brooklyn. In And Just Like That… Steve and Miranda separate after Miranda meets Che Diaz, a non-binary comedian, and chooses to pursue a relationship with them.
David Eigenberg has been sober for decades
While Eigenberg coincidentally carved out a niche for himself in Hollywood as a bartender, he recently revealed that he doesn’t know much about making drinks. If someone asks him for a cosmopolitan, he’s completely out of his depth, but he could probably manage to pour a draft beer or stumble his way through the preparation of a screwdriver, he joked in an interview.
In a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Eigenberg joked that something about him reads “bartender” to casting agents, but he doesn’t drink himself. He told the publication that he’s been sober for 34 years, and even before that, he didn’t spend much time in bars.
At the time of the interview, And Just Like That… had been announced, but Eigenberg didn’t know if he would be returning. Eigenberg did return to reprise his role. In the Sex and the City reboot, he still owns Scout, the bar he opened during season 4 of the original series. Eigenberg is reprising his role again in season 2 of the infamous reboot.
David Eigenberg isn’t the only sober ‘Sex and the City’ cast member
Eigenberg isn’t the only sober Sex and the City cast member. While many storylines from the series included the main characters and their main men drinking, no one was really drinking on set. Kristin Davis, the actor who portrayed Charlotte York in the original series and returned for And Just Like That…, is sober in real life, too. In 2015, Davis revealed that she was a recovering alcoholic.
According to The Week, Davis started drinking as a teen in South Carolina because she was shy and insecure. When she moved to pursue acting, she realized she’d have to give up one or the other. She could either keep drinking or keep acting. She chose acting and entered recovery. Davis, just like Eigenberg, opted for sobriety long before Sex and the City came about. Davis said she had been sober for more than 20 years in 2015.
