What Is SATC's Cynthia Nixon "Horrified" Over?

In a career that's spanned three decades, Tony, Grammy and two-time Emmy-winner Cynthia Nixon seems to have done it all.

On Thursday, she's back in theaters as everyone's favorite Type-A attorney, Miranda Hobbes, in the highly anticipated sequel, "Sex And The City 2."

What will moviegoers get?

"They should expect to have a great time," Nixon told "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith Wednesday. "They should expect to, you know, get choked up at times. They should expect to be, maybe scared is too strong a word. But when I've watched it, like when we premiered here in New York and the audience of thousands of people -- there are a few things that happen and the audience does gasp. Some even yell at the screen."

What is it that draws people - especially women - to "Sex And The City?"

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"There are certain aspects of it that are very fantasy," Nixon observed. "You know, the clothes and the hair and the makeup and all the accessories and stuff. But I always think that the thing that really makes 'Sex And The City" so strong is that it has its fantasy elements, but it's always rooted in really stuff that's happening with women and stories women can relate to. Even though they might not own that bag, they might not own that dress. But the things that are happening to the women are happening to them."

Nixon, who is gay, minced no words when Smith asked about a recent Newsweek piece questioning whether gays can play straight roles and straight people can play gays.

"I was horrified," she said. "I was just horrified. I mean, look, there have been gay actors playing straight characters as long as there has been a Hollywood. And you know, maybe the general public didn't know that they were gay. But they were very convincing. And, you know, we're actors. You know. Sometimes we play astronauts. We're not astronauts. You know.

"I mean, like it's not such a stretch. And I feel like at a time when people are feeling more and more secure about coming out, this kind of thing just sends people running back in the closet. It's just so harmful."