Sarah Jessica Parker Explains How 'Divorce' Is Nothing Like 'Sex And The City'

— -- Sarah Jessica Parker is starring in HBO's "Divorce" in her highly anticipated return to television.

Still, her new character as Frances is nothing like her iconic role as Carrie Bradshaw in the cable network's "Sex and the City." This time, the actress portrays a woman who is going through a divorce instead of desperately searching for The One.

Parker told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour Saturday, according to People magazine, that she spent four years developing "Divorce" because she really "wanted to tell the story of marriage" especially in its demise.

"I think really smart people can do ridiculously awful things," she said. "I think people are hurtful when they never thought they would be. It becomes very battle-like and I see it, I've had family members go through it or had close friends consider it. It can be a very emotionally charged experience."

Parker, 51, admitted that she's had to lean on second-hand experience to portray Frances, since she's been happily married to Matthew Broderick for the past 19 years.

"I don't relate to Frances, her life is different," she said. "She's a much more withholding chilly person than I am, she's not very buoyant as you can see, she can be mean and angry but I love playing someone like that. I don't need to relate to that."

In researching the series, Parker said the show taught her a lot about how people break up. In fact, she found that there are some ways people seem to enjoy the process.

"[Divorce] is rife with all sorts of people that relish it and enjoy it," she continued. "There's things about it that friends enjoy because it allows them to voice feelings and share thoughts about spouses that they were harboring. I think it can bring out some selfish qualities in people."

Parker said despite never going through the divorce process herself, she relates to her character in "Divorce," which premieres on HBO October 9, in other ways.

"It's not so much I've been in her position, but I understand somebody who wants to find fulfillment, they need to rescue themselves and their lives," she said. "Also being a mother who's concerned with making the right choices for her own children and handling something that's potentially so painful, how does one -- how do you talk about it in a way that's not patronizing but is careful? That mattered a lot to me in how we talked about it."