Take a Trip Back to Stars Hollow! See the Cast of ‘Gilmore Girls’ Then and Now

Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore)

Lorelai was the cool, junk-food devouring mom who gave birth to her daughter, Rory (played by Alexis Bledel) at age 16. She was fun, feisty and figuring it all out as she went. After the show ended, she went on to play another memorable single mom—Sarah Braverman on the NBC drama, Parenthood from 2010-2015.

Since then, she has published several books, made her Broadway debut in the revival of Guys and Dolls and starred in a variety of films and shows. Most recently, she played Alex Morrow in Disney’s The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, which was canceled in February 2023 after two seasons.

After dating for nearly 12 years, she broke up with her former Parenthood costar, Peter Krause, in 2021. Regarding why they split, she told People in an article published in November 2022, “I think part of all the positives of having known each other for a really long time were there. And one of the negatives of that is we almost came into a relationship as people in their 40s without asking any of the questions people in their 40s should be asking. We had such a good time together that I didn’t maybe ask some fundamental questions about ‘What are your values and what do you envision?’ and those more grown-up things. And then they just caught up with us.”

There have been no reports of any new romantic relationship brewing with her.

Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore)

There was a time when fans couldn’t have pictured Alexis as anyone but Rory. A series of strong roles changed that, as she went on to transform herself into Lena from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Beth from Mad Men. In 2017, she won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Ofglen in The Handmaid’s Tale.

In June 2014, she married Vincent Kartheiser, her Mad Men costar, and together they had a son in 2015. In August 2022, the couple divorced.

Jared Padalecki (Dean Forester)

Jared Padalecki played Rory’s sweet first boyfriend, Dean, on Gilmore Girls. Since then, he’s gone on to darker roles, starring in Supernatural and Friday the 13th. Currently, he stars in the CW show Walker as Cordell Walker.

In 2010, he married his Supernatural costar, Genevieve Cortese. Together, they have three children —Thomas Colton, born March 19, 2012; Austin Shepherd, born December 22, 2003; and Odette Elliott, March 17, 2017.

Melissa McCarthy (Sookie St. James)

Oh, Sookie. The sweet chef and Lorelai’s best friend was a fan favorite on the show. But she’s only gained more and more fans over the years as her career has skyrocketed.

After Gilmore Girls, she starred in TV shows, including Samantha Who? and Mike & Molly, stole the show on Saturday Night Live and busted bellies with laughter in the hit movie Bridesmaids. Along the way, she earned awards and accolades aplenty, including being named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

She still thinks about her days on Gilmore Girls, though, and recently told Entertainment Weekly, she thinks Sookie today would be about the same as back in the day … but with the help of some marijuana.

“She still cooks, but I think she does edibles,” she said. “I think they run a very nice little mom-and-pop business with their 13 kids, and she makes delicious edibles.”

In real life, Melissa is married to Ben Falcone, who she married in 2005. They have two teenage daughters together — Vivian, born May 5, 2007; and Georgette, born February 11, 2010.

Scott Patterson (Luke Danes)

Luke and Lorelai. On again? Off again? It happened too many times to count, but in the end, they headed to the altar for the happily ever after ending. Once the show ended, Scott moved on to scarier stakes, playing roles in horror movies—Saw IV, V and VI. On television he took roles on 90210 and The Event.

He currently stars on the CW show Sullivan’s Crossing, and he hosts a podcast called “I Am All In with Scott Patterson,” where he watches and discusses each episode of the Gilmore Girls.

Keiko Agena (Lane Kim)

When Keiko Agena played Rory’s music-loving BFF, Lane Kim, she was much older than her 16-year-old character—27 when the series started. She celebrated her 50th birthday on October 3, 2023.

Since her Gilmore Girls run, she’s had a steady stream of roles on television and in films, including those on 13 Reasons Why, Prodigal Son and Doom Patrol. She’s been married to Shin Kawasaki since they got married in a helicopter hovering over Las Vegas in 2005.

Milo Ventimiglia (Jess Mariano)

Milo Ventimiglia played Rory’s bad-boy boyfriend, Jess Mariano, on screen. The two dated offscreen for a couple of years as well.

Since then, he’s gone on to bolster his resume with some outstanding roles. Perhaps most memorably, he played Jack Pearson on This is Us from 2016-2022. He recently starred in the drama series The Company You Keep, which was canceled after one season in May 2023.

The heartthrob has kept his love life out of the spotlight, though was officially taken off the market when he married Jarah Mariano in 2023.

Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore)

Kelly Bishop played Lorelai’s snooty mom, Emily Gilmore. After that she went on to take roles on a variety of shows, including Army Wives, Mercy, The Good Wife and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Most recently, she played Mrs. Ivey in the TV drama series The Watchful Eye. She was married to Lee Leonard until he passed away in 2018.

She is clearly proud to be a Gilmore Girls alum, and is set to release her memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, in September 2024.

Edward Herrmann (Richard Gilmore)

Edward Herrmann had a long, illustrious career as an actor, director and writer before joining the cast of Gilmore Girls where he played Lorelai’s stuffy but loveable dad, Richard Gilmore. After the show wrapped, he played roles on shows including Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother and The Good Wife.

Sadly, he died on December 31, 2014, at the age of 71 after a battle with brain cancer. He was survived by his wife, formerly Star Lynn Hayner and three children.

Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason)

Sean Gunn played quirky Kirk Gleason who held more jobs than anyone knew possible, all while living in his mother’s basement. In real life, he’s had roles in a long slew of films and television series since Gilmore Girls ended.

When Gilmore Girls hit Netflix, fans were thrilled. Gleason … not so much. While participating in the SAG-AFTRA strike, he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I was on a television show called Gilmore Girls for a long time that has brought in massive profits for Netflix. It has been one of their most popular shows for a very long time, over a decade. It gets streamed over and over and over again, and I see almost none of the revenue that comes into that.”

Sean has been married to Natasha Halevi, an actress and film director, since 2019.