Fights, Tears & Regrets! Lauren Graham Exposes 10 Shocking ‘Gilmore Girls’ Secrets
Dec. 1 2016, Published 10:58 p.m. ET
Just in time for the Gilmore Girls reboot, the beloved show’s star Lauren Graham spills behind-the-scenes secrets in her new tell-all book, Talking As Fast As I Can.
Graham, 49, claims that she and costar Alexis Bledel, 35, signed on without ever having met each other in 2000. “I was cast very late in the process…So there was no time for a chemistry read, usually a minimum requirement when casting two actors whose relationship is vital to the success of the show,” she writes. Fortunately, “I could tell I liked her right away,” the CW actress assures fans.
The onscreen mother/daughter pair instantly bonded with costar Melissa McCarthy, who played Lorelei’s best friend Sookie. “A few months into filming…I remember Alexis and I went to see Melissa McCarthy perform in the Groundlings for the first time, and we were completely blown away by her,” Graham reveals. “I wondered then if anyone would ever figure out a way to expose how uniquely talented she was.” Of course, McCarthy would go on to become a leading lady in film.
Graham often found a way to sneak her friends and family into the show. Her sister Maggie sat behind Rory and her pal Paris at her graduation from Chilton high school.
The star didn’t approve of Lorelei and Christopher’s surprise wedding in season seven. “This seemed so odd to me back then,” she writes of the scene. Years later, she actually forgot about the nuptials altogether! “While we were filming the reboot, director Dan Palladino had to call one of the superfan assistants in the office to have her explain the whole episode to me in detail,” she admits. “Even though, I wasn’t sure she was telling me the truth.”
When the Gilmore Girls’ network WB became the CW, the series got new show runners. Though she liked them, Graham confesses the series was never the same.
Bledel and Graham felt “tired” and “uninspired” by season seven, and their teams began fighting with execs over contract negotiations. They weren’t even sure about the fate of the series by the finale.
Ultimately, the finale ended up being the show’s very last episode. “It wasn’t the quality send-off any of us would have given if we’d known this was the end,” Graham admits.
Eight years later, the reboot was picked up by Netflix following a whirlwind process. “Up until about a week before filming started, the reality of making the show was still very much up in the air,” she confesses.
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The actress admits she cried constantly during filming, especially when grieving her onscreen father, Ed Herrmann, who had passed away the previous year. “His absence had a feeling too — the room was entirely different without his booming voice and easy laugh,” she remembers.
On a happy note, Graham’s longtime boyfriend and Parenthood costar, Peter Krause, was able to guest star on the surprise new season as a park ranger. “I thought it would be a fun surprise for you to see him,” she explains to fans.
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