More than 20 years after Gilmore Girls debuted on October 5, 2000 — and was rebooted in 2016 for a four-part update — viewers are still yearning for more from Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
For six seasons from 2000 to 2007, fans followed the lives of mother-daughter duo Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) in the cozy fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Despite Lorelai’s complicated relationship with her parents, Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) and Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann), the couple also played a pivotal part in Rory’s upbringing.
Along the way, the Gilmore ladies were wooed by a few men, including Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki), Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) and Rory’s father, Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe). The cast was rounded out by Rory’s BFF, Lane Kim (Keiko Agena), her school rival, Paris Geller (Liza Weil) and Lorelai’s best friend and business partner, Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy), among others.
Scroll down to see what the residents of Stars Hollow have been up to since the series ended in 2007:
Lauren Graham
Following her stint as “cool mom” Lorelai for seven seasons, Graham played another single mom, Sarah Braverman, on Parenthood from 2010 to 2015. In 2016, she reprised her role as Lorelai for the four-part Netflix revival. She went on to star in Vampirina, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. The Hawaii native has written three books, Someday, Someday, Maybe, Talking as Fast as I Can and In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It.
The actress began dating Parenthood costar Peter Krause in 2010 after reconnecting on the show. Us confirmed in June 2022 that the pair had called it quits one year prior.
Alexis Bledel
Playing goody-goody Rory Gilmore was Bledel’s second role as an actress, but not her last. She played Lena in two Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films, appeared on Mad Men in 2012 and starred in the short-lived series Us & Them. In 2016, she revived her role as Rory for the Netflix reboot, and portrayed the character Emily Malek in The Handmaid’s Tale from 2017 until 2022.
In 2014, Bledel married Vincent Kartheiser, whom she met on Mad Men, and in fall 2015 they welcomed their first child. Kartheiser filed for divorce in August 2022 and the split was finalized later that month.
Kelly Bishop
The Colorado native had a long career before playing Lorelai’s aristocratic mother, and Rory’s grandmother, Emily, beginning in 2000. She was in Dirty Dancing in 1986, Café Society in 1995 and more. After Gilmore Girls, Bishop had a recurring role on Bunheads and The Good Wife. She then reprised her role of Emily Gilmore in 2016 and later starred in The Salzburg Story and Halston. She reunited with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on the final season of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She released her memoir, titled The Third Gilmore Girl, in September 2024.
Bishop was married to TV personality Lee Leonard from 1981 until his death in 2018.
Edward Herrmann
Herrmann portrayed the only Gilmore man, Richard, who despite being out of his daughter’s life for so long, always held a special place in her world. The Overboard actor appeared on Oz from 2000 to 2003 and starred in The Aviator, Factory Girl and more films while doing Gilmore Girls. He went on to appear in Son of Morning, A Christmas Wish and had a recurring role on The Good Wife before his passing in 2014. Hermann had three children, and was married twice.
Scott Patterson
After playing flannel king and Luke’s Diner owner for seven years, Patterson appeared in Aliens in America in 2007 to 2008 and The Event from 2010 to 2011. In 2016, he joined his former costars for the Gilmore Girls Netflix revival. The Pennsylvania native has also starred in films like Con Man, Yellow Fever and Boys of Abu Ghraib. He launched his Gilmore Girls retrospective podcast, “I Am All In,” in 2021. In 2001, Patterson married for the second time, to Kristine Sarayan. The two welcomed their son, Nicholas, in 2014.
Melissa McCarthy
Playing Lorelai’s BFF for seven seasons jumpstarted McCarthy’s career. After the show wrapped, the Illinois native joined the Samantha Who? cast and Rita Rocks before starring in Bridesmaids, This Is 40, Identity Thief and Tammy, along with other blockbuster comedies. From 2010 to 2016, McCarthy played Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly, and in 2016 she came back for one of the installments of the Gilmore Girls reboot. In 2017, she became the executive producer of Nobodies, which she followed up in 2020 with Little Big Shots.
The Heat actress was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2019 for her portrayal of writer Lee Israel in the biographical film Can You Ever Forgive Me? She also stars in Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, which premiered in August 2021. In 2005, McCarthy married Ben Falcone, who she’s worked with on numerous projects. They share two daughters, Vivian and Georgette.
Keiko Agena
Agena has had a long career in TV following her role of Lane Kim — aka Rory’s rebel BFF who wanted to be a rockstar growing up. Her credits include 13 Reasons Why, The First, Better Call Saul and Prodigal Son. Plus, she appeared in all four episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. The Hawaii native wrote No Mistakes: A Perfect Workbook for Imperfect Artists in 2018. She’s been married to musician Shin Kawasaki since 2005.
Jared Padalecki
As Rory’s first love, Dean Forester, Padalecki was a fan-favorite on the series, even though he left the show in 2005. The Texas native didn’t wait long before landing his longest TV gig to date, playing Sam Winchester in Supernatural — from 2005 to 2020. He has also been seen in House of Wax, Friday the 13th and Supernatural: The Animation. Padalecki played the lead, Cordell Walker, in Walker, from 2021 to 2024. He is set to join Fire Country in fall 2024 in a big role that could lead to a spinoff. In 2010, the actor married Genevieve Cortese. The couple share three children. While outside a bar in Austin in October 2019, Padalecki was arrested and later charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault after being reportedly booked for public intoxication.
Liza Weil
Weil has been busy since Gilmore Girls came to an end in 2007. The New Jersey native had a recurring role on Scandal and Bunheads before landing the role of Bonnie Winterbottom in ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder in 2014. She also appeared on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and reprised her role of Paris Geller for two of the four installments in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. The Columbia University alum was married to Paul Adelstein from 2006 to 2017. They share daughter Josephine.
Matt Czuchry
Czuchry joined Gilmore Girls in 2004 as Rory’s college boyfriend, Logan Huntzberger. After the series ended, the New Hampshire native continued to find work in the TV world. He appeared on Friday Night Lights in 2008 before playing Cary Agos on The Good Wife from 2009 to 2016. He appeared in all four of Netflix’s Gilmore Girls miniseries episodes in 2016. Czuchry played Conrad Hawkins on The Resident from 2018 to 2023. He joined American Horror Story season 12, costarring Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts in 2023. The actor cowrote a book with his brother, Mike Czuchry, Brothers on Life, in 2012.
Milo Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia’s Jess Mariano appeared in Stars Hollow in 2001 as Rory’s second love — the bad boy who loved to read. While on the series, Ventimiglia was part of the American Dreams cast as well. In 2006, he appeared on The Bedford Diaries and landed the role of Peter Petrelli on Heroes. In 2011, the California native voiced Wolverine in the animated Wolverine series and also starred on Chosen and The Whispers. He played Jack Pearson on This Is Us from 2016 until the drama’s 2022 finale — and appeared in the Gilmore Girls revival.
Us Weekly exclusively confirmed in October 2023 that Ventimiglia secretly tied the knot with Jarah Mariano earlier that year during a private ceremony attended by family and close friends. Mariano announced her pregnancy one year later.
Liz Torres
While playing dance studio owner Miss Patty on Gilmore Girls, Torres also appeared on First Monday in 2002 and American Family the same year. Once the WB series wrapped, Torres was seen in a variety of shows including episodes of Desperate Housewives, Scandal, Devious Maids and more before playing Miss Patty once again in 2016. In 2019, she appeared in an episode of One Day at a Time. The Emmy-winning actress has been married to Peter Locke since 1975.
David Sutcliffe
Fans met Rory’s father, and Lorelai’s high school sweetheart, Christopher Hayden, in the middle of season 1. He continued to pop up throughout the series before briefly marrying Lorelai in season 7. In 2007, Sutcliffe began a recurring role as officer Kevin Nelson on Private Practice. He was then seen in a bunch of TV movies before appearing on Cracked in 2013. The Canadian actor starred on Proof and Mistresses before appearing in one episode of the Gilmore Girls revival. After two years of marriage, Sutcliffe and his wife Julie McCullough called it quits in 2003.
Yanic Truesdale
The Canadian actor played Michel Gerard, the concierge at the Independence Inn who later joined Lorelai and Sookie when they opened the Dragonfly Inn. Following his stint on the hit WB show, he appeared on numerous shows, including The Fixer, and French-Canadian series, Mauvais Karma and La théorie du K.O. In 2020, he portrayed Stephen in The Wedding Planners show and Étienne in Les Mecs. In 2021, he reunited with former Dragonfly Inn colleague Melissa McCarthy as they filmed the forthcoming God’s Favorite Idiot series for Netflix.
Sean Gunn
Gunn went from playing Stars Hollow’s lovable weirdo for seven years to playing Vincent “Rooster” Russo on the short-lived show, October Road. Once that ended, the Missouri native appeared on episodes of Bunheads and Glee before playing Jason on H+ in 2012. In 2014, Gunn landed the role of Kraglin/On-Set Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy, which he reprised for its 2017 sequel. He also played the character in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder. In 2019, the actor married Natasha Halevi.
Michael Winters
Winters’ biggest role to date was playing town know-it-all and selectman, Taylor Doose, who owned the market and soda shop, on Gilmore Girls. He appeared in a few episodes of Days of Our Lives, The Practice and NYPD Blue before portraying Taylor again in three of the revival episodes. In 2019, he starred in ECCO.
