Lauren Graham Talks Return to Gilmore and Her 'Fall' Monologue — Plus: Is a Parenthood Revival In the Cards?
The following story contains spoilers about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Proceed with the utmost caution.
Lauren Graham‘s full-court, Gilmore Girls-themed press tour continued Thursday night with a visit to New York’s revered 92nd Street Y, where the actress-author participated in a sold-out Q&A with TVLine’s very own Michael Ausiello. During the hour-long discussion, Ausiello lightly grilled Graham about her just-released mini-memoir Talking as Fast as I Can, as well as (of course) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
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What follows are highlights from their talk:
* While preparing to write Talking as Fast as I Can, Graham binge-watched all seven seasons of Gilmore over three days, barricading herself in her New York City apartment. Admittedly, she didn’t “watch it thoroughly,” but it was “really fun.” During those seven years, “my brain was sort of a fog, but I loved seeing… all that work… and all those crazy fashion choices. It was intense,” she said with a laugh.
* It was incredibly overwhelming for Graham being back on the Warner Brothers lot those first few days of shooting “Winter” — so much so that she had to grab onto co-star Alexis Bledel the first time she saw Lorelai’s house again.
* Graham referred to her emotional monologue in “Fall” (for which she was recently named TVLine’s Performer of the Week) as “the longest monologue I ever had to deliver.” When she sat down to read it, she recalled, she “cried ” because of the feelings it dredged up about the loss of Edward Herrmann. She added that she was panicked by the intensity of the scene “because I wanted to serve all of that as best as I could.” In the end, she nailed the scene in just two takes.
* Further commenting on the loss of Herrmann, Graham said that the hardest part was knowing “he would’ve loved to come back. He loved Kelly [Bishop], he loved that character… but I just feel glad to have known him and glad that his presence was so big in those episodes.”
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* Graham said she hasn’t watched a second of the revival yet; for her, the experience of shooting it “was more than enough.” As she explained, “I had some of my favorite moments… as an actor and person during that experience. I just want to leave it there for now.” In fact, she added, she’s not sure she’ll ever watch it.
* Graham said she loved watching Sutton Foster perform in the Stars Hollow musical sequence. “It was the most fun scene to shoot,” she recalled. “The songs [were] fantastic — they’re great, but also horrible. [Laughs.] It entertained me to no end. I laughed every single time.”
* Though the audience erupted when the idea of a second Gilmore revival was teased, Graham said she wasn’t so sure there were any Lorelai stories left to tell. “I can see more for Kelly [Bishop] and Alexis [Bledel] — I can see where that story would go for their characters,” she explained. “I can’t see what would be next for [Lorelai], but I imagine [series co-creator] Amy [Sherman-Palladino] can.”
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* As for a Parenthood revival? “That’s a show where many people have said, ‘We love how it ended. Please just leave it there,'” Graham said, but “I would always get back together with those people.” She referred to the beloved NBC series as “some weird, karmic answer to the experience I had just had,” and said it helped her prepare for A Year in the Life. “I learned a lot as an actor emotionally… I had to work a little harder. Coming back to [Gilmore], it helped.”
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