Entertainment
Lauren Graham Was Nearly Replaced On 'GG'
Now that Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life is out in the world, GG nostalgia is in full force. Fans are getting their chance to revisit Stars Hollow and learn some secrets about the show from cast interviews. Adding to the excitement, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, Lauren Graham released her new book, Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, which includes even more juicy bits that fans will love. For instance, in a surprising revelation, Graham shares that she was nearly replaced on Gilmore Girls because she was tied to another series. But, as we know now, she stayed on the show, and it's really hard to see it happening any other way.
Graham writes that at the time Gilmore Girls came along she was 31 years old and didn't imagine playing a mother role quite yet, but the character of Lorelai Gilmore changed her mind. She writes,
When I got the script for the Gilmore Girls pilot, I was in New York, staying in a friend's studio apartment, waiting to hear if the series I just completed for NBC — Don Rooses' M.Y.O.B. — was going to be picked up for a second season or cancelled.
The future of Lorelai was hanging in the balance. Graham revealed that she had been sent the GG script before, but that she didn't want to read it "and fall in love with it" only to find out she wasn't available.
After casting directors still hadn't found anyone for the role, they decided would take her in "second position," which meant if she auditioned and they liked her, they would just go ahead and shoot the pilot and hope the other show wouldn't work out. The network was willing to take a huge risk on her, and it sounds like destiny was on both of their sides. As history would have it, her show M.Y.O.B. was not picked up for a second season, and Graham was able to fully commit to the role she was meant to play.
In the book, she recalls that when she told her friends about the premise of the show, she got mixed replies about being typecast as "The Mom." She writes,
Honestly, I never once thought about it. To me, Lorelai was equal parts Gal About Town and The Mom, plus a magical mix of smarts and humor that made her totally unique.
And if you thought that no one else could play Lorelai Gilmore because Graham pretty much is Lorelai, it sounds like she knew that from the beginning, too. Graham writes,
I read somewhere that Christopher Reeve said that one of the ways he knew a part was for him was when he couldn't stand the idea of anyone else doing it. I know that exact feeling. There's a sort of manic recognition that happens very rarely when I read something that I want so much that I go briefly but totally bonkers. That feeling is a combination of "Hello, old friend," meets EVERYONE GET OUT OF MY WAY SHE'S ALL MINE.
Yup, that sounds like Lorelai to me. And I (and many other fans) wouldn't have it any other way.
