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In the year 2000, millions of people were introduced to Rory and Lorelai Gilmore when The Gilmore Girls premiered on TV. In the years that followed, the show developed a devoted fan following that cares enough that they want to learn all the interesting facts about The Gilmore Girls.
On top of wanting to know about the show, fans also became big fans of Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham and wanted the best for both actors. Thankfully for fans, Graham and Bledel have both remained successful as the fact that Lauren has an impressive net worth proves.
Once a show like The Gilmore Girls becomes popular enough to be considered a classic, it can become easy to believe that was always meant to be. In reality, however, lots of successful shows easily could have failed if a couple of things turned out differently.
As Gilmore Girls fans will already know, Graham and Bledel's chemistry is a huge portion of the reason why the show works. With that in mind, it is mind-blowing to know that it seems like Bledel easily could have been fired, but Graham came to her rescue.
Why Lauren Graham Needed To Save Alexis Bledel
Before Alexis Bledel landed her starring role in The Gilmore Girls, her only acting job was as an uncredited student in the movie Rushmore. With that in mind, it is easy to imagine how overwhelming it must have been for her to suddenly be starring in a major TV show.
On the other hand, by the time Lauren Graham was hired to star in The Gilmore Girls, she'd already been appearing in notable TV shows and movies for years. Although playing the main character in a project was a new experience for Graham, she clearly was a lot more prepared for her role.
Many years after The Gilmore Girls' original run on television ended, CNN published an article looking back at the beloved series. In that article, Graham was quoted talking about how inexperienced Bledel was when they began filming the show.
“She was brand new – had never filmed anything.” With that in mind, it seems astonishing that Bledel was so great in her role from the start. On top of that, it seems surprising that Graham and Bledel seemed so comfortable together during the show's initial episodes.
As Graham went on to explain, however, it makes perfect sense that the two actors seemed so in sync from the start. The reason for that is Bledel's inexperience forced Graham to literally take the situation into her own hands.
“There’s a thing, especially on that show, where the camera moves. It’s very complicated, you have to be talking; everything has to be exactly right. Then you have to land at a certain mark. She’d never hit a mark before. And so I would put my arm around her and often be arm-in-arm with her.”
“So we’re hanging onto each other. I’m literally pulling her to and fro. But she learned very quickly and is obviously a natural, so it’s just one of those things that happened to work.”
Based on that anecdote, it can easily be argued that Graham saved Bledel's career. After all, if Bledel didn't hit her mark in the early episodes as she was expected to, she easily could have been fired since it is common for actors to be replaced early into a show's production.
For proof of the fact that Bledel could have been replaced, all you have to do is look at the fact that Sookie St. James originally was played by a different actor, Alex Borstein. While Melissa McCarthy was hired because Borstein wasn't available to take the role full-time, it still shows that replacements were possible.
If Graham didn't guide Bledel through those early days and Alexis was fired, there is a very good chance she never would have gotten her big break.
What Was Alexis Bledel's First Impression Of Lauren Graham?
Given that Graham is much older than Bledel, it makes sense that the two actors never became extremely close friends. That said, the two actors developed a very positive working relationship.
Before the two actors became so comfortable together, however, their relationship started on a fascinating note. According to Bledel, she was blown away by Graham when they first started working together.
“I was 18, and I just remember Lauren was a real professional actress, and this was my first job. She had all the poise and confidence and energy of a performer! That was a new thing for me. I didn’t know how to be that yet, so I just remember being a little bit … dazzled. Like, ‘Oh, wow, she knows how to do [this]!’”
