Not only will the second annual “Destination Stars Hollow: A Gilmore Fan Celebration” in downtown Brighton be expanded from one day to three, “Gilmore Girls” stars Rose Abdoo and Scott Patterson will be attending.
“I’m very excited that the festival is in Brighton. It’s such a cute town. I said to Scott Patterson on his podcast ‘I Am All In’), ‘Y’know, Warner Bros. shouldn’t sleep on these cute little Michigan towns.’ I’m marveling at how much some of these Midwestern towns very much look like Stars Hollow (the fictional Connecticut town where 2000-07’s ‘Gilmore Girls’ occurred),” said Abdoo, of California, a Detroit native and two-time Michigan State University alumna.
On Jan. 28, the Brighton City Council approved the return of “Destination Stars Hollow.” The event, conceived by Laura Boote and Kathleen London, transforms downtown Brighton into the quaint little hamlet of Stars Hollow on the following days:
- Friday, Sept. 19, from 5-9 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We are thrilled to have Rose Abdoo, aka Gypsy from ‘Gilmore Girls,’ at Destination Stars Hollow 2025,” said Boote. “She is truly an actor’s actor who creates beloved characters on award winning shows. We cannot wait to host her and welcome her back to her home state!”
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), “Gilmore Girls” chronicles the lives of single mom Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham, “Parenthood”) and her teenage daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”), whom she had when she was 16. Lorelai is the hotel manager at the Independence Inn, while Rory navigates the trials and tribulations of high school and aspires to attend Harvard University and become a writer. To pay for Rory’s tuition at the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School, Lorelai swallows her pride and turns to her estranged yet wealthy parents Richard (Edward Hermann, “The Lost Boys”) and Emily (Kelly Bishop, “Dirty Dancing”). They’re willing to foot the bill with the caveat Lorelai and Rory have dinner with them every Friday night, setting up one of the show’s main conflicts.
Stars Hollow is filled with many eclectic characters, including Gypsy (Abdoo) the mechanic. Abdoo, a Second City veteran, spoke about how she got the part.
RELATED: Brighton to Become Stars Hollow Again in September
“I was doing a lot of theater in Chicago. Casting director Mara Casey saw my stage work with the Sweat Girls – we were eight women who did monologues on stage. Mara was a big fan of ours. She ended up moving from Chicago to LA and took over the casting for ‘Gilmore Girls” with Jami Rudofsky,” recalled Abdoo. “She called me in for the role of Gypsy. Incidentally, Amy pinned me for a pilot called ‘Love & War.’ Chicago actors were sought after from different Hollywood types to be put on tape. I was actually in the running for this pilot. I had no idea she remembered me.”
Abdoo remembered seeing many talented actresses auditioning for Gypsy.
“In the audition, Amy said, ‘Do the same thing, only now three times faster,’” she said. “Every director I ever had told me, ‘Slow down, don’t talk so fast.’ This was the first time I had ever gotten the direction to speed it up. I thought, ‘I wanna work with these people!’”
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Abdoo played Gypsy for 23 episodes of the original series. In 2016, the cast reunited for the 4-episode miniseries called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” Abdoo returned but not as Gypsy but as a new character named Berta. Many characters hadn’t been cast yet and Sherman-Palladino asked Abdoo to do Berta’s lines at the table read.
“I read the description for Berta: ‘She speaks in a language that resembles Spanish in a way Spanish speakers could never understand or decipher.’ So I made up my own language on the spot just to do it for the table read. Everyone was laughing,” recalled Abdoo. “Alexis asked me, ‘Are you speaking Spanish?’ I’m like, ‘Can you understand me?’ She said, ‘No.’ ‘Good, that’s what they want.’ We had a good laugh because she’s fluent in Spanish.”
Abdoo continued, “Amy asked, ‘Who the (expletive) are we gonna find to do this better than Rose?’ Lauren, as a joke, said, ‘Just put (Rose) in a wig and make her do it.’ That week, producers said, ‘Rose, we are gonna put you in a wig and do a camera test to see if it’s believable that you can do another character.’ And that’s how it happened.”
Abdoo called it a full circle moment for her. “I was auditioning on the spot at the table read and didn’t even realize it,” she said. “That’s where my Second City training came in handy, having to lay so many characters throughout the course of one show. Improvisation came in handy because at the spur of the moment, I had to create a character; I had no advanced warning at all.”
She spoke highly of Sherman-Palladino. “What I loved about coming from an improvisational background where you’re making things up on the fly is it’s a fun way to work,” said Abdoo. “But the Amy Sherman-Palladino way to work is those scripts are super-tight, very well thought out, and they’re very particular that you stick to the script. That to me was like a return to theater where the playwright’s words are golden. There was so much packed into one script; they were about 20 pages longer than the average hourlong show. For it to be so timeless all these years later, that’s magical to me to do that many pop culture references that were in the news at the time, but they also didn’t get stale over time. There’s so many literary references and music references that people still enjoy to this day; they’re evergreen.”
Abdoo also has the utmost respect for Graham. “Oh, I love her!” she said. “I could follow her around and learn from her. I’m so grateful for the ‘Year in the Life’ shows because I feel like as Berta, I got to spend more time with her and be inside the Gilmore home. When I was Gypsy, I really didn’t have that much interaction with her, so I really got to know her better. She can keep so much information in her head at once and she really helped a lot with the fast pace we went at. She’s an incredible person and a very talented writer as well as an actor.”
25 years of fandom
Abdoo gave her insight into what gives the show such staying power after 25 years.
“People will finish the series and start right over again from the very beginning,” she said. “A lot of people mention to me that they not only love it, but they put it on in the background. You do have to concentrate the first time you watch it because it goes by so quickly. I think people love being in the world of the show because it comforts them, it keeps them company. I heard from fans all over the world that it got them through a health crisis or ‘I used it to bond with my daughter’ and ‘I got my husband into it and he loves it.’ That’s something I want to stress too: It’s not just a chick show. There’s so many guys who love it. Instagram has made me aware of so many people who have dinner nights and will watch it together as a group on Friday night. What it comes down to is it’s a town where everyone knows your business, but it’s also comforting where people connect with other people and friends become family. I think resonates with people, no matter how many years have passed.”
At this time, there are no plans for another revival. Abdoo would definitely be onboard with one. It would be a dream come true for her if Gypsy and Berta meet.
“I would love if there’s a storyline if Berta and Gypsy realize they’re cousins!” she said.
Abdoo is excited about coming to Brighton. She and Patterson will be doing meet-and-greets with fans, posing for pictures, and participating in a Q&A.
“I was so fascinated that (London) had this idea of boosting the small businesses of the town,” she explained. “Her thought was, ‘After COVID-19, we want all these small businesses to make it. What if we could put a spotlight on this town and make a day where the fans could be together amongst themselves?’ She said, ‘It’ll be a fun thing for fans to meet people from the show.’ It’s like the perfect storm. To me, it’s everything I love: A small town, little businesses, friendly people, Michigan. It’s a nice full circle moment for me to be able to come back to meet and greet people in my home state. I love Michigan people. I think Michigan people are special.”
For questions or more information, visit DestinationStarsHollow.com.
