THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'Gilmore Girls' 25 years later

Updated

2025-03-10T20:32:10Z

Lauren Graham is still well-known for playing determined young mother Lorelai Gilmore.

Before taking on the fast-talking, coffee-guzzling role of Lorelei in "Gilmore Girls," Graham started acting in commercials for Lean Cuisine, Cascade dishwasher detergent, and other products.

In the 1990s, she had bit parts on several popular TV shows, including NBC's "Law and Order" and "Seinfeld." The actor also had larger roles on ABC's "Townies" and NBC's "Conrad Bloom."

While starring on the show, Graham also appeared in films including "Bad Santa" (2001) and "Evan Almighty" (2007).

Graham has continued her acting career, and she's become a published author.

Graham's largest role after "Gilmore Girls" was Sarah Braverman on NBC's "Parenthood."

The actor also appeared as herself on Bravo's "Project Runway," worked on Disney Junior's "Vampirina," and was featured on NBC's "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist." A few of Graham's movies include "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (2009) and "Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" (2016).

In 2016, she reprised her role as Lorelai for Netflix's "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" miniseries.

In addition to acting, Graham wrote four books in the span of a decade: "Someday, Someday, Maybe," "Talking as Fast as I Can," "In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It," and "Have I Told You This Already?"

More recently, she starred in the Tubi original series "The Z-Suite" and the 2024 movie "Twinless."

Alexis Bledel played Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore, a bright and ambitious teenager with a strong relationship with her young mother.

Book-loving, Yale-bound Rory Gilmore was Bledel's first major acting role. Before the show, she'd only had an uncredited role in "Rushmore" (1998).

While starring in "Gilmore Girls," Bledel also appeared in movies such as "Tuck Everlasting" (2002) and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (2005).

Bledel has continued acting and has even won an Emmy.

After "Gilmore Girls," Bledel went on to star in several movies, including "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" (2008), "Post Grad" (2009), "Violet and Daisy" (2011), and "Crypto" (2019).

In addition to playing an older (if not wiser) Rory in Netflix's "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," Bledel appeared on other hit series, including AMC's "Mad Men" and Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale."

Bledel's work on "The Handmaid's Tale" earned her an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress on a Drama Series in 2017.

Scott Patterson played Luke Danes, Star Hollow's grouchy diner owner.

Before playing Lorelai's will-they, won't-they love interest, Luke, Patterson had a professional baseball career.

He got his start acting in movies like "Little Big League" (1994) and "Three Wishes" (1995). On NBC's "Seinfeld," he played Elaine's "sponge-worthy" boyfriend, and he portrayed Grace's high-school crush on "Will & Grace."

During his years playing Luke, Patterson also worked on Cartoon Network's "Justice League Unlimited" and "Her Best Move" (2007).

Patterson still acts but also hosts a "Gilmore Girls" podcast.

Patterson has played several leading characters since turning in his backward baseball cap on "Gilmore Girls."

He worked on three movies in the "Saw" franchise, as well as "Other People's Children" (2015), "Batman: Gotham by Gaslight" (2018), and "Con Man" (2018).

The actor has also continued to find success on TV shows like The CW's "Aliens in America," Fox's "90210," and NBC's "The Event."

Patterson found his way back to Stars Hollow for Netflix's "Gilmore Girls" reboot.

Most recently, he appeared on CTV's "Sullivan's Crossing" alongside fellow "Gilmore Girls" alum Chad Michael Murray.

In 2021, Patterson also started hosting a "Gilmore Girls" rewatch podcast, "I Am All in With Scott Patterson," which is still running.

Kelly Bishop portrayed Lorelai's mother and Rory's grandmother, Emily Gilmore.

As Emily Gilmore, Bishop wore a lot of skirt suits and delivered devastating insults to anyone who crossed her or her family.

In a 2018 "Q with Tom Power" interview, the actor said she based her interpretation of Emily on her own grandmother.

Before that iconic role, Bishop had a successful background in theater, film, and television.

In Hollywood, she was well known as Baby's mother in "Dirty Dancing" (1987) and also appeared in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993) and "Wonder Boys" (2000).

Much of her success also came from theater, with roles in "On the Town" (1971), "Six Degrees of Separation" (1990), and "Bus Stop" (1996).

She won a Tony award in 1976 for playing Shelia in "A Chorus Line."

Bishop has reunited with showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino several times.

After playing Emily Gilmore, Bishop reunited with "Gilmore Girls" showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino to star on ABC Family's "Bunheads" and appeared on "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

The actor also continued her theater career, starring in the 2011 revival of "Anything Goes" alongside her future "Bunheads" costar Sutton Foster.

More recently, Bishop appeared in "The Salzburg Story" (2018), "Art of Falling in Love" (2019), and "The Watchful Eye" (2023). The actor also had a supporting role as matchmaker Benedetta on Amazon Prime's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," another Sherman-Palladino show.

In 2024, she wrote about her storied career in her memoir, "The Third Gilmore Girl."

Edward Herrmann played Richard Gilmore, Lorelai's father and Rory's grandfather.

Herrmann acted in dozens of roles and narrated several documentary series, such as PBS' "Nova" before donning a bow tie and hiding behind a newspaper as Richard on "Gilmore Girls."

In 1976, Herrmann won a Tony the same year as Kelly Bishop for his role in "Mrs. Warren's Profession."

He also earned Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the made-for-TV films "Eleanor and Franklin" (1976) and "Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years" (1977). In the 1982 movie adaptation of "Annie," he was again cast as the 32nd president.

Often, he was cast as wealthy characters, as in "Overboard" (1987), "Richie Rich" (1994), and "Nixon" (1995).

During his run on "Gilmore Girls," he also worked on ABC's "The Practice," "Oz," and several documentaries.

Herrmann's acting career continued until his death in 2014.

After "Gilmore Girls," Herrmann remained an actor and narrator.

He appeared on popular shows like ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," NBC's "30 Rock," and CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Good Wife." He also had a small voice role in "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013).

In addition to narrating films and series such as "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" and "The Roosevelts; An Intimate History," he lent his signature voice to many audiobooks, including Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken," Daniel James Brown's "The Boys in the Boat," and Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Bully Pulpit."

In 2014, the actor died from brain cancer at the age of 71, leaving behind a wife and three children.

The "Gilmore Girls" reboot featured the death of his beloved character Richard. 

Before Melissa McCarthy played Sookie St. James, she had minor credits on other television shows.

McCarthy had just started working in the entertainment industry as a comedian and actor before she joined the cast as bubbly chef Sookie St. James.

She appeared in a single episode of "Jenny," a 1997 NBC sitcom starring her cousin Jenny McCarthy. In 1999, she had a small part in the movie "Go."

While starring in "Gilmore Girls," she worked on movies like "The Kid" (2000), "Charlie's Angels" (2000), and "The Life of David Gale" (2003).

McCarthy has found incredible success in comedy since her time as Sookie.

After "Gilmore Girls," McCarthy continued working on television, starring on ABC's "Samantha Who?" and CBS' "Mike and Molly."

She also returned with much of the rest of the cast for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

While known for some of these earlier roles, the comedic actor became a breakout star thanks to 2011's "Bridesmaids."

She followed it up with a string of other funny roles in "Identity Thief" (2013), "The Heat" (2013), "Tammy" (2014), "Spy" (2015), "Ghostbusters" (2016), "Life of the Party" (2018), and "Thunder Force" (2021) — several of which she also produced.

McCarthy has also stepped into dramatic roles in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" (2018), "The Kitchen" (2019), and Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers."

More recently, she appeared in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (2022), "The Little Mermaid" (2023), and "Unfrosted" (2024). In 2024, she played Doreen, Charles-Haden Savage's sister, in an episode of Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building."

Keiko Agena's career was gaining momentum when she was cast as Rory's best friend, Lane Kim.

Before picking up a pair of drumsticks as rocker Lane, Agena had a few roles in film and on television, including parts on ABC/The WB's "Sister, Sister," Fox's "Beverly Hills, 90210," NBC's "ER," and The WB's "Felicity."

When she wasn't playing Lane in the early '00s, Agena had roles on Lifetime's "Strong Medicine," Disney Channel's "Kim Possible," and CBS' "Without a Trace."

Agena has continued to act and star in podcasts.

Since "Gilmore Girls," Agena has kept busy in her career.

She appeared in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011) and showed up on ABC's "Castle" and "Scandal," Fox's "House," and Showtime's "Shameless" before reprising her role as Lane on "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

Agena also acted on Netflix's "13 Reasons Why," AMC's "Better Call Saul," Fox's "Prodigal Son," and Apple TV+'s "Central Park."

After hosting her own podcast, "Drunk Monk," a "Monk" rewatch show, she began appearing in fiction podcasts, including "Trap Street."

Jared Padalecki played Rory's first boyfriend, Dean Forester.

Padalecki was a relative newcomer to Hollywood when he was cast as Dean, the floppy-haired grocery store worker who struggled to get over Rory after their breakup.

While on "Gilmore Girls," he acted in movies such as "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003) and "New York Minute" (2004).

Post "Gilmore," Padalecki found fame during his time on "Supernatural."

While still on "Gilmore Girls," Padalecki landed one of the lead roles on The CW's "Supernatural," which ran for 15 years. The show aired its final episode in November 2020.

Padalecki also continued acting in films like "House of Wax" (2005) and "Friday the 13th" (2009), and he returned as Dean on "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

For four seasons, he had the titular role in The CW's "Walker." He also guested on CBS' "Fire Country" and will reunite with his "Supernatural" costars Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins in season five of Amazon Prime's "The Boys."

Milo Ventimiglia portrayed Jess Mariano, Luke's nephew and one of Rory's boyfriends.

With small roles on NBC's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," ABC/The WB's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and NBC's "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," Ventimiglia wasn't yet a big star when he appeared on "Gilmore Girls."

He played Jess, Luke's sarcastic, Jack Kerouac-loving nephew who fell for Rory. The character nearly got his own spinoff set in Venice, California, but it never materialized.

While playing Jess, Ventimiglia also appeared on NBC's "American Dreams."

Ventimiglia had big roles in "Heroes" and "This Is Us."

Ventimiglia continued his successful acting career after playing Jess.

He's had starring roles on NBC's "Heroes," ABC's "The Whispers," and NBC's "This Is Us," which earned him three Emmy nominations.

He's also acted in "That's My Boy" (2012), "Grown Ups 2" (2013), "Creed II" (2018), and "The Art of Racing in the Rain" (2019).

In between, he appeared in "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" to give some hope to "Team Jess" fans.

In more recent years, Ventimiglia joined season four of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," starred in ABC's "The Company You Keep," and appeared in "Land of Bad" (2024).

Matt Czuchry played Logan Huntzberger, Rory's love interest at Yale.

Czuchry had a handful of acting roles on his resumé before being cast as trust-fund troublemaker Logan Huntzberger.

Most notably, he'd appeared on other teen shows, such as Fox's "Freaks and Geeks," The WB's "Young Americans," and The WB/The CW's "7th Heaven."

In 2006, in the midst of his role on "Gilmore Girls," he appeared on an episode of UPN/The CW's "Veronica Mars."

Czuchry has had long-running roles on "The Good Wife" and "The Resident."

In 2016, Czuchry returned as Logan to pursue a complicated relationship with Rory in "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

He also had recurring roles in TV shows such as NBC's "Friday Night Lights," CBS's "The Good Wife," and Fox's "The Resident."

On "The Resident," Czuchry worked alongside Tanc Sade, who played Logan's best friend, Finn, on "Gilmore Girls."

Most recently, the actor joined the cast of FX's "American Horror Story: Delicate."

Paris Geller, Rory's academic rival and eventual friend, was played by Liza Weil.

Weil originally auditioned for the role of Rory. Instead, Sherman-Palladino wrote the part of studious, intense Paris specifically for her.

Prior to "Gilmore Girls," Weil had small parts in a few movies and on TV shows, including Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" and "Stir of Echoes," so she's only one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon.

Weil has spent a fair amount of time in Shondaland.

Weil was one of the returning characters in "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." Sherman-Palladino also brought her on for several episodes of ABC Family's "Bunheads."

But her largest roles since playing Paris were in Shonda Rhimes shows, as Amanda Tanner on "Scandal" and Bonnie Winterbottom on "How to Get Away With Murder."

Some of her more recent projects include "Women Is Losers" (2021), Fox's "The Cleaning Lady," and "The Passenger" (2023).

Chad Michael Murray was cast as Rory's cocky classmate Tristin Dugray.

In the 1990s, Murray spent time modeling for brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Skechers. In 2000, he guested on MTV's "Undressed."

Not long after, he scored the role of Tristin Dugray, Chilton Academy's prankster who teased Rory. He left during the show's second season.

After leaving "Gilmore Girls," Murray spent years on "One Tree Hill."

In 2003, "One Tree Hill" debuted on The WB with Murray as one of the leads, Lucas Scott.

By then, he'd already appeared in a dozen episodes of "Dawson's Creek" and in the "Freaky Friday" remake with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

After "One Tree Hill," Murray had roles in movies such as "Fruitville Station" (2013), "Left Behind" (2014), and "Outlaws and Angels" (2016). He found steady work on shows including ABC's "Agent Carter," CMT's "Sun Records," and the third season of The CW's "Riverdale."

Along with "Gilmore Girls" actor Scott Patterson, Murray has a main role in "Sullivan's Crossing" on The CW. The 2024 Netflix Christmas movie "The Merry Gentlemen" also featured a shirtless, dancing Murray.

Sean Gunn played the offbeat Kirk Gleason.

Gunn is best known to "Gilmore Girls" fans as Kirk Gleason, a Stars Hollow resident who worked dozens of different jobs in town.

Before becoming a series regular, Gunn appeared in two other season-one episodes as Mick and "Swan Man."

Gunn acted in a few TV shows and movies before "Gilmore Girls," including episodes of The WB's "Angel" and Lifetime's "Any Day Now."

Gunn joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe along with his brother.

Following "Gilmore Girls," Gunn has appeared on ABC's "October Road," Fox's "Glee," and NBC's "Superstore." He also returned for the 2016 "Gilmore Girls" revival.

He's worked with his brother, director James Gunn, on "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014), "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017), "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), "The Suicide Squad" (2021), and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023).

The actor reprised his MCU roles in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (2022).

He also paired up with Sherman-Palladino again for episodes of "Bunheads" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Variety recently reported that Gunn will star with Mckenna Grace, Fred Armisen, and Bobby Lee in "New Years Rev," a comedy inspired by the band Green Day.

During a March 2025 episode of "Celebrity Jeopardy!" Gunn recreated some dance moves from "a film by kirk."

Liz Torres played Miss Patty, the gossipy dance teacher.

Liz Torres may have pulled from her own lengthy career as an actor and dancer to add credibility to Miss Patty's star-studded tales of Hollywood.

Her easy banter with Sally Struthers' Babette was real too, the product of a decadeslong friendship that formed during their days on CBS' "All in the Family."

With roles dating back to the 1960s, she showed up in episodes of legendary shows such as CBS' "The Jeffersons" and "Murder, She Wrote," plus "Hill Street Blues" and "LA Law," both on NBC.

In addition, she was a main cast member on NBC's "The John Larroquette Show," which earned her two Emmy nominations.

After "Gilmore Girls," Torres continued acting on television, in film, and on the stage.

Following her role on "Gilmore Girls," Torres guest starred in ABC's "Desperate Housewives," ABC's "Scandal," and Pop/Netflix's "One Day at a Time."

Additionally, she glided back into the role of Miss Patty for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

The actor was also cast in the 2010 Off-Broadway play "It Must Be Him" and produced the 2012 original run of "Ghost the Musical."

More recently, she appeared on NBC's "Lopez vs. Lopez."

Sally Struthers played Babette Dell, Lorelai's protective neighbor and friend.

Before she played Lorelai's cat-loving neighbor, Struthers was already well-known for her television, film, and voice-acting performances.

She rose to fame on CBS' "All in the Family," and she continued to appear on TV in CBS' "Murder, She Wrote" and "Gloria" and ABC's "Nine to Five."

Before "Gilmore Girls," Struthers also voiced Pebbles Flintstone on CBS' "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show" and in "Fred Flintstone and Friends" (1977). She also lent her voice to The Disney Channel's "TaleSpin" as Rebecca and ABC's "Dinosaurs" as Charlene.

Outside Hollywood, the actor played Miss Hannigan during part of the 1998 US tour of "Annie" and Miss Lynch in the 1994 revival of "Grease."

Struthers recently stole scenes on "A Man on the Inside."

Struthers' career after "Gilmore Girls" has included acting and voice work in movies such as "The Relationtrip" (2017), "You and Me" (2018), "Still Waiting in the Wings" (2018), and "Very Frightening Tales" (2023).

She also returned for the "Gilmore Girls" revival and voiced a character on Netflix's "Not Quite Narwhal."

Struther has continued her theatrical career in productions of "Steel Magnolias," "Legally Blonde," and "The Witches of Eastwick."

In Netflix's "A Man on the Inside," Struthers played the flirtatious, fun-loving Virginia.

Yanic Truesdale played Michel Gerard, the irritable concierge at Lorelai's inn.

To capture Michel Gerard, Truesdale put on a thick French accent and a bored expression, unless his character was talking about his Chow Chow dogs or Celine Dion.

Truesdale acted in a few different Canadian projects before landing the role of the concierge on "Gilmore Girls."

Some of his biggest parts were on the Canadian series "Les héritiers Duval" and "Majeurs et vaccinés."

Truesdale has continued acting after the show, and he's also opened a fitness studio.

Truesdale returned for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," which revealed more about Michel's personal life than the original series had.

Some of his recent roles include in "My Salinger Year" (2020) and "Love by Accident" (2020) and on Citytv's "The Wedding Planners" and Ici Radio-Canada Télé's "Les Mecs."

He also appeared on Netflix's "God's Favorite Idiot," where he acted again with Melissa McCarthy.

In addition to his acting career, Truesdale is the founder of the spin studio Spin Énergie in Montreal.

Emily Kuroda portrayed Mrs. Kim, Lane's strict mother.

Mrs. Kim, played by Kuroda, was Stars Hollow's stern antique store owner who was slow to warm up to Lane's hobbies.

Kuroda has a background in theater and was part of East West Players, an Asian American theater organization.

In the 1980s and '90s, Kuroda portrayed characters on several popular shows, such as NBC's "ER" and CBS's "The Young and the Restless." She had a recurring role on NBC's "LA Law."

During her "Gilmore Girls" days, the actor also took roles on CBS' "The Agency" and HBO's "Six Feet Under."

Kuroda has continued acting and appeared with former castmate Czuchry on "The Resident."

Since "Gilmore Girls," Kuroda has had plenty of work, from ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Good Doctor" to CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful." In MyNetworkTV's "Under One Roof," she acted alongside musician Flavor Flav.

She also landed a part on Fox's "The Resident," which starred fellow "Gilmore Girls" alum Matt Czuchry.

In 2016, she came back for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

Kuroda recently worked on "Kimi" (2022) and "Strange World" (2022). The same year, she appeared onstage in "The Brothers Paranormal" and has continued to work in theater.

Her latest role is a nun on Amazon Prime's "The Power."

Todd Lowe played Lane's bandmate-turned-husband, Zack Van Gerbig.

After a few heartbreaks, Lane later started crushing on Zack, her Hep Alien bandmate.

Todd Lowe's guitar-playing skills are real, and the actor was in what he described as a faux-German punk band when he was cast on the show.

Prior to joining "Gilmore Girls," Lowe appeared as two different characters on CBS's "Walker, Texas Ranger" and had a small role in "The Princess Diaries" (2001).

Lowe sank his teeth into a role on "True Blood" after "Gilmore Girls."

After "Gilmore Girls," Lowe went on to play mortal Terry Bellefleur on several seasons of HBO's "True Blood."

In addition to returning for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," the actor has also appeared on CBS' "NCIS," and USA's "Shooter."

Like many of his "Gilmore Girls" costars, he popped up on ABC Family's "Bunheads."

Lowe also kept up with his music, playing in bands including LA Hootenanny and TeeLo & Friends.

As Dave Rygalski, Adam Brody stole Lane's heart.

Equally at home strumming a guitar during bible study and rocking out with his band, Dave Rygalski, played by Brody, made an impression during his short time in Stars Hollow.

Brody had already done episodes of MTV's "Undressed," Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show," The Comedy Network/MTV's "The Sausage Factory," and ABC's "Once and Again."

After "Gilmore Girls'" third season, Brody headed for a warmer climate to star in "The OC."

Brody played a "hot rabbi" on "Nobody Wants This."

Playing Seth Cohen on Fox's "The OC" helped turn Brody into a TV star. While working on the teen drama, he also acted in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (2005), "Thank You for Smoking" (2005), and "In the Land of Women" (2007).

Other movie roles followed, including "Jennifer's Body" (2008), "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" (2012), "Lovelace" (2013), "Shazam!" (2019), and "My Father's Dragon" (2023).

Brody has also had recurring roles on several TV shows such as MTV's "Good Vibes," Yahoo! Screen's "Burning Love," FX's "The League," Hulu's "Fleishman Is in Trouble" and Sony Crackle's "StartUp."

In 2024, he played the charming Noah Roklov in Netflix's "Nobody Wants This," in which his character was dubbed the "hot rabbi."

This story was originally published on October 5, 2020, and most recently updated on March 7, 2025.