What Happened To The Cast Of Gilmore Girls?

Wherever the cast of "Gilmore Girls" leads, /Film will follow. It's been over 20 years since the hit family dramedy aired on The CW, transporting viewers to the fictional New England town of Stars Hollow. There, young Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) spent seven seasons navigating school, romance, and life, relying on the guidance of her unconventional but fiercely caring mother, Lorelai (Lauren Graham).

Although many TV series similar to "Gilmore Girls" have come close to emulating the cozy feel of the classic 2000s series, Amy Sherman-Palladino's work stands largely on its own. The creator has since moved on to other successes like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (Sherman-Palladino also created the underrated series "Bunheads," though it was relatively short-lived), but we're frankly itching for an excuse to head back to the hollow. In the meantime, let's take a look at what happened to the cast of "Gilmore Girls" after the series ended.

What better way to start this trip down memory lane than by revisiting the first — and arguably most polarizing — love interest on "Gilmore Girls." Jared Padalecki was just 18 years old in 2000, when the pilot episode of the series introduced the world to the sweet but moody Dean Forester. He had only two professional screen acting credits under his belt at the time, though his work throughout the first three seasons of "Gilmore Girls" would change that quite quickly.

Taking on a reduced role in Seasons 4 and 5, Padalecki nabbed a handful of small roles before landing the one that would ultimately define his career — demon hunter Sam Winchester in the hit CW series "Supernatural" (pictured above). It ran for a staggering 15 seasons before ending in 2020, with Padalecki starring in over 320 episodes. Many, including us here at /Film, regard "Supernatural" as one of Padalecki's best TV shows.

While starring on "Supernatural," Padalecki also featured in movies like "House of Wax" and the 2009 "Friday the 13th" remake. He also returned to "Gilmore Girls" for "A Year in the Life" in 2016. He quickly re-teamed with The CW in 2021 for a remake of the Chuck Norris western series "Walker, Texas Ranger" (simply titled "Walker"), which was unexpectedly canceled in 2024. As of this writing, Padalecki is slated to play a yet unknown character in Season 5 of "The Boys," Amazon Prime Video's superhero thriller, thus reuniting with fellow "Supernatural" alums Jensen Ackles and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Oh, Jess. The wild-child nephew of Stars Hollow's favorite grouchy cafe owner, Jess Mariano blew into "Gilmore Girls" during its 2nd season in 2001 and immediately started causing problems for every person he met. And yet, it's this unfortunate track record of self-sabotage that — when coupled with his passion for writing and sporadic capacity for unparalleled vulnerability relative to the series' other love interests — made him one of the most empathetic characters in the ensemble.

Jess was played by 24-year-old Milo Ventimiglia (best known at the time for Fox's swiftly-canceled "Opposite Sex"). He remained a series regular through season 3 and recurred throughout season 4. At the time of his exit in 2004, Ventimiglia was cast in Season 3 of NBC's "American Dreams." Then, in 2006, the same year he returned to "Gilmore Girls" for two final special guest star appearances during season 6, the actor was cast in both "Rocky Balboa" (playing the son of Sylvester Stallone's iconic character, a role which Ventimiglia would reprise over a decade later in "Creed II") and the hit NBC supernatural thriller "Heroes." He would remain part of the main cast of the latter series until its end in 2010.

Ventimiglia continued to land supporting roles in major films and TV shows through 2016, including "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." He was then cast as struggling young father Jack Pearson in NBC's "This Is Us" (pictured above), which earned Ventimiglia multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations. The series ran until 2022. Most recently, he was cast as the star of ABC's crime drama "The Company You Keep," which was canceled after one season in 2023. He also reunited with Amy Sherman-Palladino in 2022 and 2023 for two episodes of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Like Milo Ventimiglia, Matt Czuchry had an early break on "Opposite Sex" after appearing on "Freaks and Geeks." He then starred in "The Practice" and "7th Heaven" prior to joining the cast of "Gilmore Girls" as Logan Huntzberger, a spoiled yet sharp heir to a publishing empire who falls for Rory while the two are classmates at Yale. He began as a recurring cast member in season 5 and was promoted to series regular — as well as the final man in Rory's life — for the remainder of the series' run.

Czuchry briefly recurred on "Friday Night Lights" after "Gilmore Girls" ended in 2007 and had already landed his next major television role by 2009 — hotshot lawyer Cary Agos on the CBS legal drama "The Good Wife." He remained part of the series cast for all seven seasons, up until its end in 2016 (that same year, Czuchry would also reprise his role as Logan Huntzberger in "A Year in the Life"). Beginning in 2018, he led the Fox medical procedural drama "The Resident" (pictured above), in which he starred as a Georgian doctor recovering from PTSD. In 2023, Fox canceled "The Resident" ahead of its 7th season, freeing Czuchry up to take a leading role in "American Horror Story: Delicate."

As one of the older members of the "Gilmore Girls" cast, Chris Eigeman was already a fairly recognizable actor by the time he joined his co-stars on set, appearing in classic '90s films like the bourgeoisie dramedy "Metropolitan" and the Noah Baumbach comedy "Kicking and Screaming" (one of the best comedies of the '90s). He also recurred on another popular 2000s sitcom, "Malcolm in the Middle."

For season 4 (and only season 4), Eigeman played Jason "Digger" Stiles, a fleeting love interest for Lorelai Gilmore. After his storyline wrapped up, the actor continued to make consistent guest star appearances on shows like "Fringe," "CSI: Miami," "Girls," and "Billions." He also continued to collaborate with Amy Sherman-Palladino with small roles on "Bunheads," "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (seen above on the right, playing newspaper editor Gabe in the latter, the boss of Tony Shalhoub's character Abe Weissman at The Village Voice).

Of everyone in the "Gilmore Girls" cast, who would've guessed that Kirk would go on to dominate screens big and small? (Then again, he did hold down the most jobs out of anyone in Star's Hollow ... ) Kirk Gleason was played by Sean Gunn, a hilarious actor who, as he himself would surely acknowledge, owes a great deal of his current endless employment to his brother, James Gunn. 

After "Gilmore Girls," James cast Sean in his low-budget superhero cult classic "Super" in 2010. When James broke into blockbuster filmmaking four years later with his Marvel Studios debut "Guardians of the Galaxy," he hired his brother to not only play the lovable Ravager scoundrel Kraglin but to perform the motion capture work for Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon (Gunn ditched the green onesie after the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film, thankfully). This hiring led to work on two sequels, two "Avengers" films, a "Thor" sequel, and an episode of "What If...?" And although James Gunn has since departed the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Sean Gunn is still open to returning to the MCU without him.

That isn't to say that James isn't already keeping Sean busy with his new gig at Warner Brothers' DC — Sean already has three or four roles in the new DC Cinematic Universe, including Maxwell Lord in "Superman" and "Peacemaker." Oh, and he was also cast in "The Belko Experiment," a horror movie that James wrote and produced. Aside from these projects, Sean Gunn also made a quick appearance on "Bones," along with guest starring on series such as "The Rookie," "The Terminal List," "Superstore," "The Good Doctor," and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Rory wouldn't have gotten very far in any stage of her life without her best friend Lane Kim, who was played by Keiko Agena in all seven seasons of the series. Once "Gilmore Girls" ended, Agena guest starred on a few shows including "House M.D." and "Scandal" (and even appeared in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon") before landing the role of social worker Brittany Sturgess on "Shameless." Then, after returning for "A Year in the Life," she played a key supporting role as teacher Pam Bradley on Netflix's controversial coming-of-age tragedy "13 Reasons Why" (pictured above). 

Her next major project was somehow even more grim, however, as Agena was cast as part of the main ensemble of Fox's crime thriller "Prodigal Son," which followed a disturbed FBI profiler (Tom Payne) who is forced to work with his serial killer father (Michael Sheen). It only lasted for two seasons, and was canceled in 2021. Agena has continued to land memorable roles on popular television shows throughout the years, including paralegal Viola in "Better Call Saul," Dr. Yu on "Doom Patrol," Washington Post journalist Liz Hollenbeck on the Netflix murder mystery "The Residence."

Yanic Truesdale was one of the most consistent scene-stealers on "Gilmore Girls" as Michel Gerard, the put-upon maître de of Lorelai's hospitality business. He continued to work regularly in both American and Canada after the series ended, playing recurring roles in "Rumeurs," "Mauvais Karma," and "Mohawk Girls" and guest starring on "The Catch" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

In 2015, he was cast in the miniseries "The Fixer," in which he starred alongside Eric Dane ("Grey's Anatomy") and Kathleen Robertson ("The Expanse"). The following year, he reunited with the "Gilmore Girls" cast for "A Year in the Life." More recently, Truesdale has reunited with Melissa McCarthy for Ben Falcone's Netflix series "God's Favorite Idiot," as well as Amy Sherman-Palladino for the ballet dramedy "Étoile"(seen above). He also earned significant recognition in Canada for his work on the sitcom "Les Mecs."

Liza Weil's Paris Geller may have been a total pill when Rory first got to Chilton, but as the series progressed, she matured into one of its better characters. Weil guest starred on several popular television shows post-"Gilmore Girls," including "Eleventh Hour," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Private Practice," the latter two of which were notably created by prolific TV writer and executive producer Shonda Rhimes. When Rhimes created the romantic political thriller "Scandal" in 2012, she cast Weil as Amanda Tanner, a woman who claims to have had a past affair with the sitting president of the United States (Tony Goldwyn) while she was his intern.

After Weil reunited with Amy Sherman-Palladino on the short-lived "Bunheads" (she would also return for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" and play bassist Carol Keen in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), she was cast as one of the leads in the Rhimes-produced legal thriller "How to Get Away with Murder." Her character, Bonnie Winterbottom (pictured above), a significantly less reprehensible lawyer at the law firm of Viola Davis' Annalise Keating. The series ran for six seasons and ended in 2020. Readers likely saw her most recently in the Fox crime thriller "The Cleaning Lady," in which she recurred from 2022 to 2025.

There's an argument to be made that Melissa McCarthy is the most famous actor to come out of the "Gilmore Girls" cast. After playing professional chef Sookie St. James for all seven seasons of the series, she went on to become one of the most popular comedic leading women in Hollywood.

Her first major post-"Gilmore Girls" role was another supporting character in ABC's "Samantha Who?," a sitcom about a real estate agent with amnesia (Christina Applegate) that ran from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, her star began to rise higher with a starring role in "Mike and Molly," another sitcom (this time for CBS) in which she starred alongside Billy Gardell as two young lovers who meet in an addiction support group. "Mike and Molly" was on television for six years, ran for over 120 episodes, and played half a hand in making Melissa McCarthy a household name.

The other half undoubtedly came from 2011's "Bridesmaids," a raunchy romantic comedy that challenged gender stereotypes. Not long after, McCarthy landed a string of leading roles in blockbuster comedic projects such as "Identity Thief," "The Heat," "Tammy," and (arguably the peak of this era of her career) 2015's "Spy," an action comedy that brilliantly paired her with Jason Statham. 

After the middling yet unfairly maligned "Ghostbusters" reboot in 2016 (which happened to coincide with the start of Hollywood's shift away from big-budget comedies and toward bankable IP), McCarthy's career cooled. The late-2010s and early-2020s saw her star in "The Happytime Murders," "Thunder Force," Jerry Seinfeld's "Unfrosted" (pictured above), and the live-action "The Little Mermaid" — only the last was a success (at least by box office standards). As of writing, she's set to star in an upcoming JonBenét Ramsey true crime series, playing the titular victim's mother.

After Scott Patterson took his final bow as loveable diner curmudgeon Luke Danes, he immediately joined the twisted universe of the "Saw" franchise, playing FBI Special Agent Peter Strahm in "Saw V" and "Saw VI." He was also brought on to star in another CW series titled "Aliens in America," in which he played the patriarch of a Wisconsin family that takes in a Muslim international student from Pakistan. The series was canceled after one season.

Patterson was soon after cast as another father in NBC's "The Event," a science fiction thriller about aliens trapped on American soil (though it's unlikely, we can't confirm for sure that Patterson didn't assume this was just a crazy 2nd season for "Aliens in America" when he signed on). It was also canceled after one season. Since 2023, he has starred on the CW adaptation of "Sullivan's Crossing" (pictured above), a novel written by "Virgin River" author Robyn Carr.

Edward Herrmann was well-known when he was cast as wealthy grandfather Richard Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," having appeared in popular films like "The Lost Boys" and "Nixon." When the series ended, Herrmann continued to act frequently in a wide variety of TV shows, including "Grey's Anatomy," "Law and Order," and "Harry's Law" (he also had a supporting role in the unaired "Wonder Woman" pilot starring Adrianne Palicki).

In the final years of his life, he recurred on "The Good Wife," guest starred on "How I Met Your Mother" (seen above), and made a voice cameo in "The Wolf of Wall Street." On December 31, 2014, Herrmann passed away at the age of 71, two years before "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." The series chose to have Richard pass away as well, in tribute to the late actor. Posthumously, he appeared in episodes of "Perception" and "American Dad."

The death of Richard Gilmore was of course hardest on Emily Gilmore, his wife, who was played throughout the series by "Dirty Dancing" star Kelly Bishop. Amy Sherman-Palladino presumably enjoyed working with Bishop immensely, as the two would continue to work together frequently throughout the next decade-plus on "Bunheads" (with Bishop joining the main ensemble as the lead's mother-in-law), "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," (above) and "Étoile." She also returned for "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."

Aside from these projects, Bishop also guest starred on "Sex and Drugs and Rox and Roll," "The Good Wife," "Halston," and more recently the Apple TV+ dramedy "Shrinking." In 2023, she appeared as one of the leads in the short-lived Freeform murder mystery thriller "The Watchful Eye," in which she plays a woman who charges a nanny to spy on a wealthy community she suspects to be harboring her niece's murderer. It was canceled after one season.

Love or hate her, Rory Gilmore was the complicated heart and soul of "Gilmore Girls," and it's impossible to imagine any other actor but Alexis Bledel — just 19 years old when the pilot aired — nailing the character's unique balance of quirky charm and genuine awkwardness. To this day, Rory remains the most well-known character played by Bledel, though she also had a fairly prominent recurring role as rebellious Handmaid Emily Malek (above) on Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" from 2017 to 2025.

Immediately after "Gilmore Girls" ended, Bledel transitioned to film acting, starring in the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" duology, "Post Grad," "The Kate Logan Affair," and Robert Redford's "The Conspirator." On TV, she had a brief three episode arc on "Mad Men" as Beth Dawes, a housewife who has an affair with Vincent Kartheiser's Pete Campbell. She also starred in the Fox sitcom "Us and Them" (in which she and Jason Ritter played a couple trying to make a virtual relationship real), though it was canceled after one season.

Finally, we come to Lauren Graham, the actor who starred opposite Bledel as Lorelai Gilmore, Rory's young, single mother. Graham's ability to play Lorelai as a grounding (if zany) force in Rory's life despite the chaos of her own made the mother-daughter dynamic of "Gilmore Girls" unlike anything else on TV at the time.

Graham continued to flourish on television, landing another career-defining role three years after the end of "Gilmore Girls" in the form of the NBC family drama "Parenthood." It received similar acclaim and ran for six seasons and over 100 episodes. More recently, she had starring roles in the first season of "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," the Disney animated series "Vampirina," "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" (above), and "The Z-Suite." She also had supporting roles in the films "Evan Almighty," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and Dylan O'Brien's 2025 film "Twinless."