Destination Stars Hollows: A Gilmore Fan Celebration returns to Brighton for a third time this weekend – and it’s bringing along “Gilmore Girls” actors Kelly Bishop, who plays Emily Gilmore; Sean Gunn, who plays Kirk Gleason; and Scott Patterson, who plays Luke Danes.
This weekend marks Bishop’s first time at Destination Stars Hollow.
“It’s always such a joy to meet the fans; the fans are just amazing,” said Bishop. “I can’t believe the longevity of ‘Gilmore Girls’ and how it keeps gathering more fans. Some girl turns 13 and she’s watching ‘Gilmore Girls!’ More boys are watching it too because it’s such a good show. I’m very happy to be part of it after all these years. It’s so impressive to me how it keeps going.”
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (also known for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), “Gilmore Girls” ran from 2000-2007 on The CW (formerly The WB). A sequel mini-series, “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” aired in 2016 on Netflix.
Occurring in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, CT, the series chronicles the lives of single mom Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham) and her brilliant teenage daughter Rory (played by Alexis Bledel), 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) and Emily. They’re willing to foot the bill for their granddaughter’s education with the stipulation that Lorelai and Rory have dinner with them every Friday night, setting up one of the show’s main conflicts.
Destination Stars Hollow
Destination Stars Hollow, conceived by Laura Boote and Kathleen London, transforms downtown Brighton into the quaint little hamlet of Stars Hollow on the following days:
- Saturday, Sept. 26: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 27: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
General admission to Destination Stars Hollow is free. However, Meet & Greet tickets with Patterson and Gunn are $75/actor. Bishop will speak at a Q&A event about her time on “Gilmore Girls.” Tickets for the Q&A cost $100.
Playing the role of Emily Gilmore
Bishop — who won a Tony Award for originating the role of Sheila in “A Chorus Line” and for playing Majorie Houseman in 1987’s “Dirty Dancing” — wrote “The Third Gilmore Girl” (Gallery Books $19), her New York Times best-selling memoir. The paperback version was recently released and includes a bonus conversation between Bishop and Graham. Sherman-Palladino wrote the foreword.
“Amy’s a genius,” said Bishop. “She’s deeply funny. Besides being a terrific writer, she’s really a very generous person… I loved working with her and am so glad I got to know her; she’s really a special person. Any time Amy wants me, I’ll be there. It’s just how good she is and my loyalty to her.”
Bishop spoke about what attracted her to the role of Emily. “I just thought it was so beautifully written,” she said. “That season was the season where everyone was trying to copy ‘The Sopranos’ because that was the big hit of the previous season. I kept getting scripts for sitcoms about Italian families. I got the (‘Gilmore’) script during pilot season and was not more than three pages into it — ‘This is really good. What is this?’ I kept going and it kept getting better and better. ‘This can’t possibly be a sitcom.’ I looked at the width of the script, and it was an hourlong show. I just loved the writing. Amy Sherman-Palladino is so brilliant, so funny and picks up on seemingly everything.”
Bishop knew exactly who Emily was. “She was my grandmother — without my grandmother being a wealthy woman at all,” recalled Bishop. “She had all of the attitude and all of the criticism of my poor mother. I said, ‘I know exactly who this woman is! I’ve got to play this character!’ I worked hard on my audition and went in and apparently nailed it. It took me a long time to find out I had the job. I just had to do the one audition and eventually got the call that I was hired.”
Reflecting on Gilmore Girls
Bishop spoke about the titular stars, Graham and Bledel.
“Lauren is now my soul-daughter; she’s like a daughter to me. She’s very bright, very sweet, very funny and very loyal. We have a real connection and talk often. Whenever she’s in New York, we’ll have lunch together. She’s one of the special people in my life who I met because of that show,” said Bishop. “I never got to know Alexis all that well. Part of it was she was new to the business. She was perfect for the role. Her acting was really good… As time went on, she got to be better and better. I enjoyed working with her, but she was rather quiet and I honestly didn’t know her that well.”
She has fond memories of Hermann, her on-screen husband, who died in 2014.
“What a joy he was. We were both New York stage actors. He was such a delight to work with, and we got each other so completely. We really became friends during that time. He lived in Connecticut and I lived in New Jersey. We’d fly out to California. He and I’d go out to dinner and we became such good pals. I was so sorry when we lost him; that was so surprising and heartbreaking. At least I had those seven years of pleasure with him. He was such a gentleman and a fine actor.”
Hermann’s death impacted the sequel mini-series. “I realized sadly because we had lost Ed by then, my character’s life would be radically different, where the other characters had moved on and they were growing and changing,” explained Bishop. “As it turns out, I was right; the storyline for her was interesting, complicated and profound because she was suddenly a widow. I enjoyed doing that. It was so nice to get back and see everyone after a few years and work on a really good script again; it was such a pleasure.”
There are no plans at this time for another “Gilmore Girls” revival.
“If Amy wanted to pick it up again, I would jump right in and be more than happy to do it!” said Bishop.
RELATED: Thousands Converged on Motor City Comic Con
She’s amazed by the longevity of “Gilmore Girls,” calling it “magical.” After its original run ended in 2007, the series subsequently aired in syndication on the Hallmark Channel and Freeform. From 2014-2026, the series streamed on Netflix. Currently, it’s streaming on Prime Video and Hulu at the same time.
“It’s like the Energizer Bunny — it keeps going and going and going. I’m getting long in the tooth here and I get the feeling when I’m gone, it’ll keep going,” she said. “Someone always picks it up and it’ll be a moneymaker for them because people will always be watching.”
Bishop shared her insight about what gives “Gilmore Girls” such staying power.
“I think the humor, the sensibility and the decency are universal,” she explained. “’Gilmore Girls’ is just a special show onto itself; it’s got such a good heart. I wondered what is it specifically about this show? I realized that with all the humor, the odd characters, the odd circumstances, it’s really a good show about good people. There’s no bad people, no violence, no swearing; it’s just people making their way in their own peculiar little world. It appeals to so many people and continues to do so. I’m delighted to be a part of that legacy.”
For questions or more information, visit destinationstarshollow.com.
