You’d think with all those lines and lines of dialogue she has to recite for Gilmore Girls that you couldn’t get a word out of Lauren Graham when she wasn’t on the set, but Hollywood.com discovered that she’s got her own gift of gab when it comes to talking about the show’s brand new (and possibly final) season.
Hollywood.com: As last season ended, were you comfortable with Lorelai ending up in bed with her ex, Christopher?
Lauren Graham: I thought that it was great. I can’t believe people were upset. I thought that it was so good because it’s such good drama. That’s what people do and it was out of such a painful time and out of this build. To me, that’s what made her going against her natural instinct make more sense. It sort of said that this was how repressed she’s been for this long and that she’s so upset now, so disappointed, so let down. And there has always been something between them. It’s not like she picked up some new guy out of a bar. That would be outrageous and out of character. This is someone who has been a major focus in their lives and who loves her and who is available to her. So psychologically it made total sense to me.
HW: You weren’t unhappy not continue with the Luke-Lorelai romance?
LG: I think that it’s one of those Sam-and-Diane relationships where if they’re together for too long, literally the show has to end. I mean, that’s not true then.
HW: With the show’s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino having moved on after last season, will the producers ask you take more of a role in actively developing Lorelai this season? No one’s spent more time with her than you now.
LG: I don’t know. I think that they really have it, these writers. It’s so lovely actually to see people’s enthusiasm. It helps us. I couldn’t do it by myself. I’m so thankful for their enthusiasm and kind of new input and stuff. I think that if little things seem weird, there will be a little more leeway, a little more dialogue. But like I said the other way had it’s merits as well. They seem interested in my opinion though.
HW: How much of the character IS you after all this time doing her?
LG: Well, I think really the character is Amy and I filter it through what my sense of humor is, and so I think that the two mesh. They start to write to your voice that they hear, but I start to know what she meant and how she wanted something to sound when she wrote it. But it’s so specific to THIS job. I have other things that I’ve done in the last year where I don’t sound like that. It’s been interesting actually, because I did a little part in this movie with Diane Keaton and then I did this other movie, and both of them are building something a lot less, and to kind of remember what that was like was really important, because this language is just a specific kind of thing to work in.
HW: Have you ever been frustrated with Lorelai at all over the years?
LG: No, not really. I’ve had trouble finding a new way within in episode to do something because it’s not a very plot-driven show. Not a lot happens, and so you’re in these sort of emotional arcs for a while, and I got another episode where it was whatever it was and I would just question how I could make this compelling. The thing about television is that you get new information, even if it’s tiny, and you take a little step forward every episode. And I would sometimes have trouble looking for what the difference was, why this sort was kind of different than the last week. But I always thought that it turned out pretty well.
HW: It seems like you have a great sense of ownership of this character. Do you?
LG: I really love this character. I love this show. It’s important to me that it is the best that it can be, and I’ve always felt that way and I really love the new opportunity that we have. It was really good with Amy and Dan, but any kind of new blood or new thing just gives you… I don’t know, it’s just refreshing. There is an opportunity for us to look at the show for another year and think about whether it’s going forward and how we like it. But I do feel very invested in it.
HW: You’re not contracted beyond this season. How will you know when it’s time to move on?
LG: I don’t know. I think that it’s two things: If it’s a creative issue, if we feel like there is literally more story to tell, and then if it’s a lifestyle issue, because this has been a particular kind of work that is very, very challenging in a particular kind of way. And there have been times—it’s gotten a lot better—in the early years where people were getting sick. I mean, it was just really extreme conditions because to do all of that language was hard and we shoot so many more pages.
HW: How would you like it to end? Have you thought about that yourself?
LG: How would I like to end? I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve thought of ways that I DON’T want it to end, like I don’t want a cheesy double wedding with Lorelai and Rory walking down the aisle. I don’t want anything that I think is sort of antithetical to what the show is to me, which is a story about a parent and a child who really get along, and these three—I would include Kelly Bishop in that—kind of powerful women navigating their way through life. I don’t think that it is guy-dependent. I think that the way shows often end tied up in a bow just isn’t my taste. But I know that it’s a TV show and you do have give people a sense of completion. So it just can’t be a double wedding.
HW: You spent your summer working on Evan Almighty with Steve Carell. How was that experience?
LG: It was great. I’m his wife and I’m kind of like Teri Garr in Close Encounters. I think that he’s going crazy and it’s basically just progressions of that because it’s sort of the Noah’s Ark story. God tells him to build an ark and at first he refuses and then animals start coming to him and there’s a flood and he has to build a boat which is why I’m tan. And we’re building a lot of ark montage with huge heavy hammers and animals and smelly camels and stuff. I say nothing dirty and it’s a movie for the whole family to enjoy.
HW: We hear that you’re a big admirer of Architectural Digest.
LG: Because I really like decorating. In contrast I find that I cannot read anything about show business. It makes me really crazy and I start to believe things that I know are only partially true. I know the difference between when I give an interview and then how it sounds. Even the best interview, I always feel like, “Oh, God. That didn’t come out right.”I don’t know. I’m too sensitive. So I would just rather think about decorating and rugs and traveling.
HW: What’s your decorating style like?
LG: It’s sort of ever-changing. I live in an old Spanish house. It has some modern furniture. I’m just interested in it. I also think it’s just nice to appreciate some other aesthetic and some other creative world. Like, I watch designing shows all the time. I just like watching other people create.
