Lauren Graham's Talking as Fast as I Can: 11 Gilmore Girls takeaways

After seven seasons and one Netflix revival, Lauren Graham is a fountain of knowledge on all things Gilmore Girls, and in her new memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can, the actress opened up about some of her favorite memories of playing Lorelai on the the beloved series.

Did you know Alexis Bledel once talked Graham out of getting a tattoo? Or that Kelly Bishop advised Graham to date her current boyfriend actor Peter Krause years before they got together? Neither did we. Check out our favorite Gilmore Girls-related takeaways from Graham’s book, out now, below.

Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel did not meet until after they were cast as Lorelai and Rory

“Alexis Bledel and I met for the very first time in the lobby of a hotel in Toronto. Can you believe that? We’d both been cast in the show without ever having met. I was cast very late in the process… So there was no time for a chemistry read … There’d been no time for anyone to even see us standing side by side, just to make sure we looked related… She was only eighteen years old, but kind and curious, and beautiful of course. I had a good feeling about us from the start. We clicked as friends right away too. But it was all a stroke of luck!”

Lauren Graham almost had to drop out of Gilmore Girls

“A few months later, the show was picked up, which was exciting but also worrisome, because I wasn’t actually available to do it. I was still on another show, Don Roos’s M.Y.O.B. for NBC. I’d been cast in Gilmore Girls in second position, meaning that if NBC decided they wanted to keep going with M.Y.O.B., I’d have to be replaced on Gilmore Girls.”

Luke was not Lorelai’s love interest (at first)

“Wow. Scott Patterson. You know, that part wasn’t necessarily the inevitable love interest for Lorelai that it became. He was simply Cute Grouchy Diner Owner in the beginning, and it could have gone in any number of directions, but Luke took on a more important role because of Scott’s special sexiness, which was mixed with a gruffness that was a the perfect contrast to Lorelai’s chirpy cheerfulness.”

Lauren Graham explains Lorelai’s evolving hairstyles

“The color [of Graham’s hair] was just one of my hair issues. My hair is naturally curly and extremely sensitive to the weather. This means that in order for me to wear it curly, it has to first be straightened, then curled, which sort of defeats the whole supposed “luck” of having naturally curly hair in the first place. So figuring out how best to make it last throughout a fourteen-hour day took some experimentation over the years.”

Kelly Bishop recommended Graham date her current boyfriend (and former Parenthood co-star) Peter Krause years ago

“From the start of the show Kelly [Bishop] named herself my TVM, or TV mom, by which she meant she was taking her character’s role seriously, beyond the pages or sets and out into the real world…In a maternal, protective way, she found most of my boyfriends at the time lacking, and once told me I needed someone who was more my equal, like ‘that wonderful actor on Six Feet Under.'”

Graham’s family cameoed throughout the series

“Over the years, many family members made cameos, in fact. My cousin Tim still talks about his favorite episode: ‘The one about the guy carrying flowers through the lobby of the Dragonfly.’ He (obviously) starred in it as the guy.”

She really struggled with Lorelai and Rory’s extended fight in season 6

“I have to admit I struggled with the Lorelai/Rory separation. It went on for a while, and Lorelai was so crabby with her for several episodes, not to mention that I missed my favorite scene partner…I remember talking about it with Amy, who felt it was important developmentally that this always-close relationship hit a significant growing pain. Still, I felt bad in scenes where I kept holding a grudge.”

She totally forgot Christopher and Lorelai got married

“Christopher and Lorelai get married in Paris. Okay. I have to admit, this seemed so odd to me back then (especially after all that time apart; I just don’t think Lorelai would get married without Rory present) that I somehow managed to completely forget it ever happened.”

Graham admits season 7 did not feel the same

“Our new show runners were talented writers who knew the show well. But just like when David Lee Roth was replaced as the lead singer of Van Halen, no matter how hard we tried singing the same songs, they just didn’t sound quite the same.”

None of the cast knew the show was ending after season 7

“That day, I was told that I was the first to know [the show was over], and was asked to wait before reaching out to anyone. I assumed this meant everyone would be getting a call, and given the size of the cast, they needed time to do that. But I found out much later that Alexis and I were the only cast members who were officially informed, and others found out in far less conventional ways. Ed Herrmann learned the show was canceled from the clerk at his video store in Connecticut, for example. If I had it to do over again, I’d have called everyone myself, and thrown a party too.”

Alexis Bledel talked Graham out of getting a tattoo

“I was prattling on to Alexis about the possibility of getting a tattoo and the exciting potential of designing in myself, because, I explained, that’s where the real fun was, the real artistry….After I went on and on about my fantasy post-tattoo life for a while, Alexis smiled and gently said, ‘So, what would you get? A shamrock?’… After my embarrassment faded, I realized I didn’t want a tattoo anymore. Why? Because through her (more mature) eyes I suddenly saw the inherent futility of it.”