13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Gilmore Girls

We are getting so excited about the upcoming Gilmore Girls revival! Soon we will be enjoying all-new episodes, featuring our beloved mother-daughter duo and all of the quirky Stars Hollow residents. But while we prepare ourselves for the new series, let’s take a look back at the original run.

Here are a few trivia facts you probably didn’t know about Gilmore Girls.

1. Liza Weil originally auditioned for the role of Rory Gilmore. She didn’t get the part, but the producers liked her so much that they wrote the character of Paris Geller just for her.

2. Rory Gilmore was the first major acting role for Alexis Bledel. She was so new to television that Lauren Graham initially had to “man-handle” her to help her clear the camera and land on her marks properly.

3. Remember when Paris and Doyle learned Krav Maga (“The Perfect Dress,” Season 6 Episode 11) ? Liza Weil and Danny Strong actually attended a Krav Maga boot camp for a month to prepare for the scene.

4. Helen Pai, a co-producer of the show and Amy Sherman-Palladino’s real-life best friend, had a huge influence on the show. Not only did Pai inspire the character of Lane Kim, Pai’s husband, Dave Rygalski, was also the inspiration of the show’s Dave Rygalski. Furthermore, Lane’s band, Hep Alien, is an anagram of the name Helen Pai.

5. Keiko Agena (Lane), Todd Lowe (Zack), and John Cabrera (Brian) all learned to play their instruments for the band, and Hep Alien has performed several shows together in the past.

6. Stars Hollow was inspired by Washington, Connecticut. Amy Sherman-Palladino stayed at the Mayflower Grace inn while vacationing there, and fell in love with the town.

7. Sherilyn Fenn was Amy Sherman-Palladino’s first choice to play Lorelai Gilmore, but was unavailable due to other commitments. Fenn later played the role of Jess’s father’s girlfriend, and then Anna Nardini.

8. Carole King, who sings the Gilmore Girls opening credits song and is a famous American singer-songwriter, was a guest star on the show for a few episodes as Sophie, the owner of the Stars Hollow music store.

9. Luke can be seen wearing a Columbus Clippers baseball hat throughout Season 7. Scott Patterson actually played professional baseball in the 1980s for the Columbus Clippers.

10. Scott Patterson based the character of Luke Danes on his own father. He said, “It was a chance to play my father as if he weren’t the super-educated, suave, sophisticated man that he was — who hadn’t left when I needed him the most, creating this giant void in my life.”

11. Sookie St. James was originally supposed to be played by Alex Borstein, but Borstein was unavailable due to other commitments. However, Borstein’s husband, Jackson Douglas, ended up playing Sookie’s husband, Jackson Belleville, on the show. Borstein also guest starred as Drella the harpist and Miss Celine the fashion stylist.

12. Scott Patterson used to play pranks on Milo Ventimiglia (Jess) off-set, like putting shaving cream in his shoes and nailing his shoes to the floor.

13. Logan Huntzberger and his family are based on the real-life Sulzberger family, a wealthy publishing family who own the New York Times.

Gilmore Girls is currently available for streaming on Netflix.