Iconic actor Sarah Jessica Parker started out her commencement address to Northwestern University Class of 2026 Sunday in true Chicago style: talking about food.
Parker, who received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree during the ceremony at the United Center, first began her speech delivering thanks to the school and to the graduates.
“It is sincerely a massive honor to be here in the great city of Chicago,” Parker said. “Although I’ve lived in New York for quite awhile now, I grew up here, in the Midwest.”
Parker, best known for playing Carrie Bradshaw in the hit HBO series “Sex and the City,” said she grew up in Ohio, but lauded Chicago as the “big” city.
“Big architecture, big music, big arts, big presidents, big popes, big shoulders…big food.”
While Parker said she wouldn’t take a side in the age-old New York vs Chicago pizza debate, she did have some words to say about another iconic Windy City meal.
“I will happily declare that Chicago hot dogs are simply the best.”
Speaking to the graduating class, Parker went on to use a series of “what if” questions – what she described as a rehearsal technique used to explore the possibilities that can shape a character’s future.
“What if you could maintain your individuality? That you could find a way to continue to be the individual you discovered and refined as you marched toward this day. That you could always remember, even as you get swept by currents of desire and ambition…” she stated.
Throughout her career, Parker said others tried to change her approach, appearance and choices.
Watch Sarah Jessica Parker’s full speech in the player below.
For the most part, she pushed back.
“I have resisted, often to the chagrin of those who believe they had my best interest at heart,” the actress shared. “Now, I’m not going to suggest that I was evolved enough at the time to see the error in not resisting, but there was a little voice that said, ‘Don’t be gracious. Listen, I appreciate the care, but there are times, Sarah Jessica, to keep your own counsel.’ As we say in acting, take the note, but do it your own way.”
Parker stressed the importance of staying curious while encouraging graduates to dream big — and acknowledging that setbacks are inevitable.
“Dreams expand your field of perception and lead to other dreams,” she said. “But here’s the very hard part – the pursuit of dreams isn’t linear. Dreams are circuitous and elliptical, full of unexpected passageways, but also detours that necessity will dictate along the way.”
Parker said she lives by the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
“At times I fall short,” she stated. “Of course, we all fall short, but it is still the hook on which I hang my hat. It remains my beacon, and I believe, if followed, it gives back a truly remarkable achievement.”
Parker closed by encouraging graduates to support one another, stay engaged and do their part to shape a more compassionate future.
“Who better to conquer a big challenge and to dream big than this group before me? Who better than you?” she asked. “The singular and plural. You to be bold, to be generous. To let curiosity be your guide. To believe in a what if world of love, justice and companion until it’s not a what if anymore. After all, graduates class of 2026. Look at what you’ve already done in your few years here on earth.”
Parker’s 2026 Northwestern University commencement speech follows an equally memorable one by Steve Carell in 2025.
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