Gilmore Girls’ Kelly Bishop on Emily’s Life After Richard’s Death: ‘She’s Trying to Find Herself’

Emily Gilmore is adjusting to life after Richard’s death … and it’s not easy.

“Emily is dealing with widowhood and it’s a huge part of the whole thing for her,” Gilmore Girls‘ Kelly Bishop tells E! News of her character handling the loss of patriarch Richard Gilmore (formerly played by the late Edward Herrmann who died of brain cancer in December 2014). “She has different adventures, some of them are funny, some of them are sad. She’s just kind of plodding along trying to find herself, how she does it now, what it means.”

In Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Bishop returns to her legendary role as Lorelai Gilmore’s (Lauren Graham) mother and Rory Gilmore’s (Alexis Bledel) grandmother — and although it’s been nine years since the last episode of the beloved show aired, she feels right at home.

“I just know that character so well and I did it for so long,” she said. “It was really sort of like stepping into a favorite outfit or something. I certainly gave a lot of thought to what she was feeling, but as far as her personality, as far as Emily goes, we are one.”

Speaking of favorite outfits, GG fans were surprised to see Emily wearing jeans and a T-shirt in the trailer, far from her tailored and classic look.

“It was meant to be rather shocking,” Bishop said when asked about viewer reaction to the outfit. “It was something that was supposed to really surprise people, but I guess they enjoyed it so much that they made you talk about it.”

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premieres Nov. 25 on Netflix.