From Ryan Gosling's failed audition to Luke’s one baseball hat.
‘Gilmore Girls’ Fan Fest took place this past weekend in Washington Depot, Connecticut, and it was pretty much every ‘Gilmore Girls’ fan’s dream. The quaint New England town that served as the inspiration for Stars Hollow was completely transformed into IRL Stars Hollow by two superfans, Jennie and Marcus Whitaker. With the help of various sponsors, townsfolk, and local businesses, the fictional Stars Hollow was brought to life in the town where the idea of Gilmore Girls was originally born, in order to celebrate both the original series and the upcoming Netflix reboot.
The weekend was jam-packed with quintessential ‘Gilmore’ activities, such as a knit-a-thon, a town hall meeting, tea time at the Mayflower Grace (the inspiration behind the Independence Inn), screenings of fan-favorite episodes, a cake tasting, a dance recital, a living art show, and, of course, a limitless supply of coffee. Additionally, the festival featured an array of cast members from the original series, including Keiko Agena (Lane), Todd Lowe (Zack), John Cabrera (Brian), Vanessa Marano (April), Sean Gunn (Kirk), Jackson Douglas (Jackson), Liz Torres (Miss Patty), and Rose Abdoo (Gypsy).
The cast held various workshops throughout the weekend, and occasionally mingled about town with the fans. And we can vouch for the fact that it was totally surreal to be walking outside and just casually pass Jackson on his way to get some coffee, or spot Miss Patty on the steps of Town Hall. It was honestly as though we had been transported into one of the ‘Gilmore Girls’ episodes. We could say things like, “Let’s go grab coffee at Luke’s and then catch Hep Alien’s performance” – and it was real life.
In addition to the events and the workshops, ‘Gilmore Girls’ Fan Fest contained two behind-the-scenes panels. Friday night’s panel featured members of the production team and was moderated by TV Line’s founder and editor-in-chief Michael Ausiello. Saturday night’s event was hosted by Kevin Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe of the Gilmore Guys podcast, and featured members of the cast.
Jackson was originally supposed to be on set for only three episodes.
According to Jackson himself (Jackson Douglas), he was originally written in as a guest role. But when creator Amy Sherman-Palladino saw the chemistry he had with Melissa McCarthy (Sookie), his character was turned into a recurring role. Jackson also said that it was “so fantastic” to work with Melissa, and that it was really easy to share scenes with her because of how much chemistry they had together on camera.
That fan theory about Caesar is actually true
While ‘Gilmore Girls' fans don’t have to scrutinize the scenery of every episode so much as, say, Pretty Little Liars viewers do, some fans noticed a familiar face in the background of Rory’s school dance at Chilton in season 1. Fans suspected that one of Rory’s classmates was played by Aris Alvarado, who also played Caesar, AKA, a cook at Luke’s Diner. At the cast panel on Saturday, Aris confirmed that Caesar was indeed at Rory’s dance. Aris explained that he was just waiting for someone to discover it, and of course people did because, the internet.
Todd Lowe is basically Zack IRL’
We couldn’t get over Todd Lowe at this festival – he wore his sunglasses almost the entire weekend, did plenty of hair flips, and rocked out with his guitar. It turns out that Todd definitely has a lot in common with Zack; he has his own rock country band called the LA Hootenanny that plays shows throughout the Los Angeles area.
Grateful that ‘The OC’ happened
Remember when Adam Brody was on Gilmore Girls for a hot second? Well, at the cast panel on Saturday, Todd joked, “Thank god Adam Brody got hired on another show, or I would have been written out!” We don’t think anyone could replace Zack, TBH.
John Cabrera, AKA Brian, didn’t know how to play the bass
Before every episode, John would have to learn the finger formations for the songs Brian was playing, but his bass wasn’t plugged in – someone else would always be playing off-camera. “It’s hard to bass sync,” John admitted. However, he’s been learning for real, especially since Todd gave him an autoharp for a wedding gift.
Hep Alien actually has a slogan
At the end of the cast panel on Saturday, the Stars Hollow squad played a trivia game with the audience. There was just one question that stumped every superfan in attendance: What is the slogan on Hep Alien’s poster? Apparently it’s three simple words: “We’re out there.” Makes sense.
Um, Ryan Gosling auditioned for ‘Gilmore Girls’
We’re still not over this one. At the production team panel on Friday, casting director Jami Rudofsky explained that she had previously cast a “handsome young man” in an independent film, and so she brought him in to read for a small part on ‘Gilmore Girls’.
She had told her team all about him, saying that he was amazing, but then his audition fell flat. It’s worth noting that Jami told this whole story without ever mentioning Ryan’s name, leaving us all on the edges of our seats. Eventually, Michael Ausiello knowingly asked which actor she was talking about, and Jami leaned forward into her microphone and slowly said, “Ryan. Gosling.”