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Meet James Wilkie Broderick, son of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick – from his SATC fashion icon mum’s down-to-earth parenting style to his possible future music career

James Wilkie Broderick and his famous mum Sarah Jessica Parker clearly get on well. Photo: GC Images
It’s not every day that Hollywood parents are able to keep their children out of the limelight and give them relatively “normal” childhoods. But long-time married couple and proud parents, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, are proving that it can indeed be done.
Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker and their son James Wilkie Broderick attending the And Just Like That premiere in New York last December. Photo: WireImage

In fact, their three children are rarely photographed out and about in public, save for a few film screenings that turn their parents’ work events into a family affair. Just a few days ago, 19-year-old James Wilkie Broderick, the pair’s eldest child, was spotted accompanying his father to an event in honour of Broderick’s recent Haute Living magazine cover.

James Wilkie’s rare appearance – and striking resemblance to his parents – left us curious to know more about him. So here’s what we know so far.

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He spent his early years wearing hand-me-downs

A young James Wilkie Broderick enjoying himself. Photo: @sarahjessicaparker/Instagram
Despite her bona fide Hollywood status thanks to Sex and the City, Parker’s upbringing wasn’t a glamorous one. In 2008, she told Parade: “I think that if I had been raised a child of privilege, I wouldn’t be the working person I am today. I have a great appreciation for work.”

She said she therefore refrained from raising her children in a life of excess and luxury, adding: “I think it’s incumbent on my husband and me to really stress and to show James Wilkie by example what it means to owe your community something and that he is not entitled to the benefits of our hard work.”

James Wilkie Broderick wasn’t dressed in brand new designer threads as a child, despite what you might expect – quite the opposite, in fact. Photo: @sarahjessicaparker/Instagram

Parker also shared that she was dressing her son (who was five years old at the time) in hand-me-downs from her older nephews and in her brothers’ clothes that her mother had saved. “I don’t think I’ve ever bought him any clothes,” the actress disclosed. “I do buy him shoes, because everybody’s feet are different.”

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He’s surrounded by a great group of friends

“I’m so happy with the young man he’s becoming,” Sarah Jessica Parker has said in previous magazine interviews about son James Wilkie Broderick. Photo: @jwbr0derick/Instagram

In fact, parents Parker and Broderick often talk about their parenting styles in interviews. In People, the actress talked about the importance of having conversations as a family, saying: “Sometimes I just sit on the stairs because they’re all in the kitchen, eating all the food, and I listen. And I’m so charmed by their conversation. I’m so happy with the young man he’s becoming,” she added, referring to her son.

James Wilkie Broderick and his university friends. Photo: @danielsilverstein/Instagram

The doting mother of three also said how proud she was “that our children talk to us in the way they do.” She added that they are “curious people”, and that her son has “this great friend group”.

He has plenty of different hobbies

A young James Wilkie Broderick on the football field back in December 2018. Photo: @jwbr0derick/Instagram
While iconic for her role as Carrie Bradshaw, and known as the face of several fashion and beauty brands, Parker revealed to Entertainment Tonight that her children don’t really talk to her about her work.

Instead it seems that conversations at home are rather normal, and just like those that take place in other households. “It’s school and interning and soccer, and conversations about university and how to spend time, and where’s everyone’s stuff that’s missing?” the actress said.

“Some pics of me readin :)” James Wilkie Broderick labelled this post, in what appears to be a university common room. Photo: @jwbr0derick/Instagram

James Wilkie’s Instagram shows a mix of diverse interests, including playing football, reading, and hanging out with close friends, who also tag him in photographs from proms to art gallery exhibits. He is doing his degree at Brown University and has also labelled himself a “musician/band” on his profile, signalling his probable future career path.

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He was brought up in a religious household

James Wilkie Broderick is currently studying at Brown University in Rhode Island. Photo: @brownclassof2025/Instagram

In the same Parade interview, Parker spoke about the different religions her son James Wilkie has been exposed to. The actress is Jewish, while her husband comes from both a Jewish and Catholic background. One of Broderick’s sisters is an Episcopal priest while his other sister is a therapist.

Sarah Jessica Parker has gone on record saying that son James Wilkie Broderick has a “great friend group”. Photo: @henry_egan_/Instagram

At the time of the interview, Parker said their babysitter was a devout Catholic, and that “she’s had some influence on James” and “says prayers with him”. Parker herself also says prayers with her son. “He’ll probably end up a Unitarian,” she added.

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He remains low key … for now

James Wilkie Broderick made a rare public appearance with father Matthew Broderick at a Haute Living event recently. Photo: @hauteliving/Instagram

James Wilkie, like his younger twin sisters Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge, rarely makes showy public appearances, but he has still managed to amass 22,000 Instagram followers from a mere 25 posts so far.

A few of his “major” appearances include a red carpet attendance last year at the And Just Like That movie premiere. In 2017, he and his siblings also attended the Broadway opening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If his music career progresses, we may yet see more of James Wilkie’s as yet unleashed star power.

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  • Last snapped at the premiere of Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That, the 19-year-old just made a rare public appearance with mum and dad in New York
  • The low profile Brown student already has thousands of Instagram followers despite only 25 posts, and grew up with religious influences ranging from Jewish to Catholic