Mario Cantone Remembers 'Great TV Husband' Willie Garson: 'He Was Everything, I Miss Him'

Sex and the City star Mario Cantone is remembering his on-screen husband, Willie Garson.

Garson, who played Stanford Blatch — the best friend of Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw and husband of Cantone's Anthony Marentino — in the Sex and the City franchise, died of pancreatic cancer in September. He was 57.

During an interview with Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast on Sirius XM Tuesday, Cantone saluted Garson's "brilliant" and "hilarious" performance in the HBO Max revival And Just Like That...

"Willie, he's in the first three episodes," Cantone said of Garson reprising his role. "He's so alive, brilliant, and hilarious in this."

He shared that Garson's death was "a real shock" adding: "None of us knew, and it was just, it was terrible, very sad. And he was an incredible father to his son, Nathen, that's all he talked about was Nathen. He loved him very much. Nathen is 18 years old."

He explained that while he and Garson didn't see one another often because they "lived on separate coasts," whenever they reunited for events like readings on Zoom during COVID-19, "we were always texting each other, talking s---."

"But I miss him," Cantone added. "He made me laugh so hard. He was a great TV husband... He was loved, and he was brilliant and hilarious. He was everything. I miss him a lot."

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Many of Garson's costars paid tribute to the late actor after his death.

Kristin Davis, who portrays Charlotte York in the franchise, shared a series of photos of Garson on her Instagram page, including a special one of him and his son Nathen.

She recalled meeting him on the set of The X-Files in 1995. "He immediately made me laugh," she wrote, adding in part: "Little did I know that we would have the joy of sharing Sex and the City + And Just Like That together. Willie is beloved by our entire community. He was smarter and funnier than you ever would have imagined. We are bereft without him."

Parker also reflected on their friendship, which spanned over three decades, in her Instagram tribute, writing, "It's been unbearable. Sometimes silence is a statement. Of the gravity. The anguish. The magnitude of the loss of a 30 + year friendship."

"Willie. I will miss everything about you. And replay our last moments together. I will re-read every text from your final days and put to pen our last calls," Parker continued. "Your absence a crater that I will fill with blessing of these memories and all the ones that are still in recesses yet to surface."

Cynthia Nixon, who stars as Miranda Hobbes, tweeted, "So deeply, deeply sad we have lost @WillieGarson. We all loved him and adored working with him. He was endlessly funny on-screen and and in real life. He was a source of light, friendship and show business lore. He was a consummate professional— always."

Executive producer Michael Patrick King told PEOPLE that Garson's "spirit" and "dedication" were ever-present on set.

"The Sex And The City family has lost one of its own, our amazing Willie Garson," King said. "His spirit and his dedication to his craft was present everyday filming And Just Like That... ."

"He was there — giving us his all — even while he was sick," King continued. "His multitude of gifts as an actor and person will be missed by everyone. In this sad, dark moment we are comforted by our memory of his joy and light."