Several things are synonymous with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City character, Carrie Bradshaw: New York City, Manolo Blahniks, cosmopolitans. That third one is the center of Stella Artois’ new campaign with Water.org, “Pour It Forward,” aimed at ending the global water crisis.

The message is simple: For every bottle of Stella Artois sold at a bar or restaurant, one person receives a month’s worth of access to clean water in the developing world. Buying a six-pack of Stella, for example, gives someone six months worth of clean water access. A 12-pack, 12 months of clean water. You get the idea.

It’s a great cause, so of course in the new Stella Artois campaign (which will air during the Super Bowl), Carrie changes her usual cosmo order for a Stella. The restaurant descends into madness. The same chaos happens moments later, when The Dude from The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges, opts for a Stella in lieu of his regular White Russian.

“Good choice,” Carrie tells The Dude after he takes the seat next to her. He responds, “Changing can do a little good.” Yes, it can.

We chatted with Parker about the campaign and what she loves most about Carrie Bradshaw, and Sex and the City 3, which, as you probably know, came very close to happening.

Glamour: What made you decide this was the right moment to bring back Carrie Bradshaw?

Sarah Jessica Parker: Pretty simple: Stella Artois and Water.org. I thought [about] the campaign, the kind of effort they’ve shown, the impact they’ve had. Water.org’s commitment. The important and urgent work that’s being done. I think the campaign is really clever, and everything they offered—the execution—was just really smart and the message delivered was something I believed in and felt really good about. I felt privileged to be asked to be part of it.

The actual concept of the campaign is so spot-on, because Carrie does have this signature drink. How was the day of the shoot?

It was pretty exciting. We had been away with Christmas break, so I was traveling home from pretty far away and dropping my children off in New York and switching planes and heading to Los Angeles. I landed really late, then had a fitting for a couple of hours to get everything as right as we felt we could. [We wanted] a story that was immediately recognizable in terms of the details. The directing team was so talented. Everybody surrounding the campaign, those on the set—everyone involved was simply good at what they did. It was joyful. The set was fun. It was relaxed. The first day I shot alone, and the second day I got to work with Jeff [Bridges], which was an absolute crazy treat. It was fun. I wanted it to be good. I wanted people who cared about Carrie Bradshaw to feel that I was doing right by her—that this was a message she would deliver. So you try to take care of all that stuff in advance of someone yelling “action.”

Carrie Bradshaw is someone you’ve played in several iterations now: the series, the two movies, and now these spots for Stella Artois. Is it still fun stepping into her shoes? Is it just as fun as it was in 1998?

It is. I think ever more so for this because of the campaign. Because of the message. Because of the global impact. And because you have this unique moment when you have so many people gathered to watch [the Super Bowl]. There’s a lot of eyeballs on this game. It’s such an opportune moment to [guide] people toward their better instincts. Americans have a long history of reaching out, of wanting to be involved, of wanting to participate, and this is such a simple way. It felt exciting and purposeful and, therefore, more fun to play her for this.

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