The Stars of Stars Hollow

Gilmore Girls was one of the most loved shows on The WB from 2000-2007, with a final tally at 154 total episodes produced before 2016. It is being revived by Netflix and has great promise attached to it. In The Stars of Stars Hollow, we take a brief look at the careers of 10 actors who featured in over 100 episodes of the Gilmore Girls during the show’s original run.

Lauren Graham

Character: Lorelai Gilmore

First up is Lorelai Gilmore herself, Lauren Graham. Lauren has been prolific in her output. After Gilmore Girls, her most notable role has probably been the voice of Fran in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 2009. After that, she went on to star in Parenthood for the next 5 years as Sarah Braverman. She appeared in over 105 episodes of that show. She really has kept herself busy.

Alexis Bledel

Character: Rory Gilmore

Next on the list is Alexis Bledel. She has been in a bunch of movies since the end of the show (I think we all remember how awkward it was when Rory showed up as a prostitute in Sin City) but arguably her best performance comes from Mad Men where she played Beth Dawes. I don’t think movies like The Kate Logan Affair or Parts Per Billion showcase the full depth of her talents and I hope the Gilmore Girls revival jumpstarts her career.

Keiko Agena

Character: Lane Kim

Keiko Agena was 27 when the show started playing Lane Kim. Surprising when you remember how realitically she played the role of a geeky high school student. Keiko hasn’t been working a lot between the interim of Gilmore Girls. She’s had a few bit parts here and there but nothing too substantive. My age may be showing here, but the role I remember her most for is Yori from Kim Possible. Hope the new Gilmore Girls can help her land more parts.

Scott Patterson

Character: Luke Danes

Scott Patterson has been a busy man. He was in Saw IV,V, & VI. He was in the one season series Aliens in America. He was also in the one season wonder The Event. Dude likes shows that only go one season. Even with those roles and ones I didn’t mention he is probably still best known as Luke.

Yanick Trusdale

Character: Michel Gerard

Yanick Trusdale is an actor who hasn’t done much other acting work that I can find. He has a couple of TV episodes to his credit. He has opened up a spin studio in his home town and has been busy getting that gym off the ground when not acting. He’s still best known for his role of Michel on the show.

Kelly Bishop

Character: Emily Gilmore

Kelly Bishop is an actress with a long and storied career. She’s had a remarkable career on Broadway and won a Tony for supporting on an original production of Chorus Line. She has a credit sheet too extensive to list. She’s been working primarily in TV and featured in every episode of the 1 season of Bunheads.

Edward Herrman

Character: Richard Gilmore

Edward Herrmann passed away in 2014 when he lost the battle with brain cancer. He and all the actors featured above were in all 154 episodes of the show. Another actor who had a laundry list of acting credits. The guy was a working man’s actor and was in everything from Law and Order to The Good Wife to Richie Rich. I remember him most from being the voice on dozens of different specials on the history channel, but I always have him framed in that sophisticated bowtie look from Gilmore Girls.

Melissa McCarthy

Character: Sookie St. James

Melissa McCarthy is undoubtedly the breakout star following Gilmore Girls. Starting off an impressive movie career with underrated Ryan Renolds The Nines, where she both played herself and referenced her Gilmore Girls past, it’s fair to say that she has flourished, becoming Paul Feig’s go-to girl for comedies and scoring some of recent years’ biggest female-led hits. Just this year she stared in the reboot of Ghostbusters and The Boss. She also brought an end to her show Mike and Molly, though not exactly on her terms.

Sean Gunn

Character: Kirk Gleason (Human)

Sean Gunn has been steadily working since the show, but mostly an episode here and an episode there type of gigs. Kirk never did like to settle down into just one job. Ever since I saw a behind the scene shoot of Guardians of the Galaxy, I will never be able to get him being the on set stand in for Rocket Raccoon out of my mind.

Liza Weil

Character: Paris Geller

Liza Weil is right up there with the likes of Melissa McCarthy and Lauren Graham when it comes to success post Gilmore Girls. In 2012 she was on 6 episodes of Scandal and since then has been a reoccurring character of many of Shonda Rhymes shows. In my head she will always be the snarky Paris.