'Gilmore Girls' Met Marvel This Summer

Resident Stars Hollow everyman Kirk was a staple for Gilmore Girls during its entire seven year run. Often he was used as comic relief character, and always seemed to be butting heads with someone, whether it was Luke at the diner, or basically everyone else in Stars Hollow. Remember: once Miss Patty even beat him up. And as the series continues to live on through its new life on Netflix, I can't help but wonder what the actor who played Kirk on Gilmore Girls, Sean Gunn, has been up to lately. Is he out annoying some poor diner owner in Connecticut?

Not so much. Though he's not at leading man status, Gunn has had a string of small supporting roles since the end of the series in 2007. It's best to describe Gunn as a character actor, since he is always playing a certain type — often an iteration of Kirk, meaning he plays a lot of town busybodies.

He's also got one of those faces, that when you see it you're like, I know he's from something. It probably happened to you this summer when you saw his face flash across the screen but couldn't quite place him. And here's why:

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Just like on Gilmore Girls, Gunn played the everyman in Guardians. It was directed by his big brother James, so it's easy to see why he was called in to action. Gunn went in to audition for a role, and was not just case in one role, but two. He had a supporting role as Kraglin, one of Youndu's buddies, and he also doubled as the literal double for Rocket Racoon.

Yes, the Racoon voiced by Bradley Cooper was played by Gunn on set during shooting. They used him as a stand in, considering that Rocket would be added to the movie through CGI in post production. Gunn was suited up in a bright green spandex suit and filled in for Rocket while the likes of Star Lord and Gamora rehearsed their scenes. He also stood in so the actors had someone to play off of — while talking to Rocket — so they weren't simply acting into thin air. As he told BuzzFeed, he was at first "confused" by what he was supposed to do, but "got a good sense that even though he was a raccoon and the kids would like him, he was sort of the most hard-ass character in the movie."

He was credited in the film as both Kraglin and the On Set Rocket.

BUNHEADS

I will never not take an opportunity to talk about Bunheads, because it is the closest thing we will ever have to the second coming of Gilmore Girls, and it was sadly canceled after only one season. Gunn popped up in this short-lived series for two episodes playing Sebastian, a coffee shop owner in Paradise. Who knows what kind of hijinks he would have gone on to create had Bunheads just lived a little bit longer.

SUPER

During the eldest Gunn's first film about superheroes — the movie Super — the younger Gunn got to play a thug. While it might not be a very memorable role for Gunn, clearly these brothers enjoy working together, and it's nice to see that their craft runs in the family. Considering that a sequel to Guardians has already been green-lit, I'm betting there's a 100 percent chance that the younger Gunn will return to help his older brother one more time.

Images: Marvel; ABC Family (screengrab)