Scott Patterson – Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What kind of fan response have you been getting to “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life?”

A) There has been a lot of activity, for sure. It is really a huge testament to Amy’s [Sherman-Palladino] writing and just the fans are very engaged. They always have been and now they have more outlets to express themselves, which is really a wonderful thing. It is instantaneous feedback and it is very nice at that.

Q) What scenes have you gotten the most feedback on?

A) Well, there are a couple of scenes in the kitchen, but the one scene in Fall where I think she is going to dump me and I launch into this monologue. That’s the scene that people seem to be rallying around. I remember filming it and really loving that scene. I just loved doing it. I think it came out pretty well. I haven’t seen it, but from all the feedback and the feeling I had while shooting it I knew that was going to be an important scene for me. I think it is the best scene that I’ve ever done with Lauren [Graham]. It might be my best work ever in front of a camera! I’ll withhold judgement until it, but I’m not very keen on seeing myself on camera. But I’m going to be forced to watch this one out of blind curiosity.

Q) How were you able to break down that scene and handle the surge of emotion that seems to sweep over Luke?

A) Well, I made that speech before on a few different occasions in my life so I know where that comes from. It really is just a question of putting yourself back into those moments in your life, if you even need to do that. For me, with this scene and this particular actress on this particular show…that was all I really needed because I had so much invested in that show and in Lorelai that it just sort of came. Unconsciously, it just sort of rose up and I trust myself as an actor and I trust my instincts and I trusted that was the right level of feeling and emotion to come out at that moment in time in our story arc. So, I trusted it and went with it. If it wasn’t any good, I’m sure that Amy would have said, “Well, let’s wrap it up or tone it down,” however she wanted to get me there. But it was a very deep well of emotion that has always been there and especially in a situation like that. The given circumstances of the writing of these episodes were pretty much enough for me to have that stuff come up. It was actually a lot of fun doing it. There wasn’t a lot of nerves or tension. There is a lot of quiet before the storm and in those scenes the crew is extra differential. Amy is running around saying, “Everybody let’s keep it down. Scott really needs the space and really feels like it can come up.” The same thing happens for Lauren when she needs to go down there and get that stuff. I’m not saying it is easy, but they really provide for you a really comfortable safe place to do that because that’s what you need. That’s just a testament to how Amy runs the set. If you feel safe, you can do your best work.

Q) Fall definitely has this feel of extra tension. As we end the four seasons, it seems like a really big surge of confusion and uncertainty – especially with the father of Rory’s child. Were you surprised by this ending? Is there someone you would want it to be?

A) I think that I kind of want it to be a Logan (Matt Czuchry) baby because that will increase the dramatic tension in that Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) may be forced to come out of his circumstances to enter the fray to defend and support Rory (Alexis Bledel) to the face of schmucky Logan – which would probably happen. As opposed to a Jess baby…Because if Jess is acting like a schmuck I don’t know if Logan would rise up and come to her aid. I would rather see it as a Logan baby with Jess riding into the rescue. But Amy is known for twists and turns that are very surprising and very subtle. You just never know…If it is a Wookie baby….We’re going to have to get our lightsabers and figure that one out. I don’t know! It is quite ingenious to plant that seed into the “Gilmore” universe of a Rory baby. That level of fan engagement is probably going to be unprecedented. That is a very interesting development.

Q) This expansion has shown all of the characters on the series grow so much, including Luke who develops a relationship with Emily by Richard’s wish to franchise the diner. Do you think this evolution is a blessing or a curse for him?

A) Look, that whole Gilmore attitude or the Emily (Kelly Bishop) attitude of “this isn’t good enough for my daughter so we need to think bigger here and franchise the diner” is exactly the kind of thing that Luke despises. He’s a blue collar guy and he is in love with an upper-middle class gal. There is a lot of conflict there from that point, but now dealing with Emily…It’s like Mary Queen of Scots dealing with the lowland Scots. It is wrought with bitterness and conflict. So, it’s really a wonderful thing to play and it is a wonderful thing to be in a scene with Kelly Bishop because you know you are going to get the best of the best coming at you. So, if there are more (which I don’t know if there are more) I am looking forward to further engagement with Kelly Bishop for sure.

Q) There is also a great hate/hate relationship between Taylor and Luke. Do you really think it is all about Taylor’s best intentions for the town or is there some other motivation behind him?

A) I think what motivates Taylor (Michael Winters) is that he is a small businessman and he is the town busybody, but I think it is all for the good of the town. He thinks he is doing good work and supporting good causes. He is an active member of the community, which is terrific. I think Luke probably has some very conflicting feelings for Taylor. On the one hand, he finally sees that Taylor isn’t such a bad guy. On the other hand, maybe he feels a little bit like the candy shop is syphoning off a little dessert business that could be at Luke’s where he could be selling more pie or more ice cream. But now he has to compete with his Taylor candy shop yet it could also draw more people into the diner. I can see the candy shop from the diner because there is a glass partition from the window. I don’t know if that is actually part of the show, but all I know is that when I’m filming scenes in the diner you can look through the partition and see Taylor’s candy shop. Taylor is another great character to play off – more conflict but comedic. Nothing terrible is going to happen. The stakes aren’t very high between Taylor and Luke. All of it is meant to be fun – the irritations and the blowups. With Lorelai it is pretty different because the stakes are pretty high there. That is real issues. That’s the love of my life. Those questions are universal and are fraught with significant intensity and higher stakes. Like I said, the stakes with Taylor aren’t that high so people can really, really relax and enjoy all of those arguments, which I always do because Michael Winters is amazing. I always dreaded when I read in a script when there was a town hall meeting because we did a couple of those a year. It is an all day thing because it is so much coverage you have to get from all of the actors, but the saving grace of those town hall meetings was getting to sit there and watch Michael Winters work. He had to memorize these really long speeches and it is just a joy sitting there watching him act. It is a joy watching the detail of the work he is doing – the craftsmanship of it and the full embodiment of Taylor Doose because that is acting at a level that rivals anybody on the show. He is such a great guy, a great spirit and such a professional. Because he really just wants to get it right and he always does! Man, I tell you…He is a real inspiration to me. He’s just a terrific actor. Doing those townhall meetings is horrible, but getting to watch him…that’s not bad. You kind of marvel at it. He comes in and has to do that scene all day – forty or fifty times. He just does it the same way when he is off camera and just giving lines to someone else as he is when the camera is on him. He is just a very generous, skilled and gifted actor. That’s the saving grace for the town hall scenes.

Q) We saw a new family dynamic with Luke and Lorelai exploring surrogacy. Paris has always felt like a second daughter to Lorelai while seeming like an adult in an adolescent’s body. The show just always shows you that family is not just blood related.

A) That is the world Amy created and is sort of dying in this country. It is the smaller communities that sort of breed this kind of community support. If you live in a town of 20,000 people or less everybody knows who you are and everybody knows your name. There is more accountability of the population of that. You don’t get the gruff big city attitude of people not taking responsibility because they can’t get away with it in a small town. It reflects, I think, the values of who we are as a country, what we have always been and what we aspire to be. I’ve spent a lot of time in big cities and I’ve spent a lot of time in small towns. These small town values are crucial to the life blood of any country. I’m glad to be a part of a show and honored to be a part of a show, which I believe is quite needed in this country. Not to get political here, but it is sort of a healing type of show. People watch the show because they wish their towns were like this. They wish they didn’t live in such big metropolitan areas where people are just mistreating each other all the time. The people who do live in smaller communities can relate to these characters because all smaller communities have these types of characters. You get noticed more. It is just a good old American eccentricity. That’s what is so beautiful about this snow globe like existence of this show. With the characteristics of the show you really get to see in a very pronounced way all of these different characters and different personalities. It is really enjoyable…really, really enjoyable to highlight the eccentricity of these small communities. It’s a throwback show. People really like it because they feel safe.

Q) This was kind of the perfect time to bring the show back to give our country a bit of healing.

A) I think so! We live in interesting times and very volatile times where the country seems to be very divided. I’ve never seen, in my lifetime, a country so divided. But I think a lot of that has to do with social media. A lot of that has to do with this sort of democratization of anybody’s ability to have their voice heard – which I think is a really good thing. So, perhaps this is just the first spasm of those voices being heard and justified so and those voices should be heard and we’ll make the adjustments in the ensuing years. Again, this show (to highlight why it is so popular) is that it is a respite from a world that has seemingly gone bad. One thing I’ve noticed is that from the time I was really old enough to care or notice it just seems like we’re inundated with politicians on a daily basis, twenty-four hours a day. They seem to have seized the spotlight from everybody else and everything going on in anybody’s life. It seems these politicians have positioned themselves to the point where they are just kind of camera hogs. You see them on talkshows now. It’s like they have become celebrities in their own right that maybe their PR person is saying, “You need to go do this like you’re a celebrity.” All these lines are being crossed and all these lines are being erased. I think that might be part of the problem. I wish people would (not to be too restrictive here) stay in their lane and just sort of do their jobs and stop trying to dominate our lives. They are just making a big mess of everything. I don’t know if it is doing much good. People just seem to be angrier, angrier and angrier. It is definitely more complicated lives we’re living these days. That’s for sure!

Q) It’s great we got so many surprises and new cast members of the show. It is kind of the gift that kind of keeps on giving. What has “Gilmore Girls” given to you?

A) Pre-“Gilmore Girls” I was sort of struggling along. I did a “Seinfeld” episode and an arc on “Will & Grace.” I did an arc on “Fired Up.” I was getting work here and there. I was moving the needle a little bit. Those were great shows to get and I was getting noticed and all that. Then, there was a couple of years there where I was auditioning for so many things and I became quite a competent auditioner, which is what you have to be in order to get work because auditioning really has very little to do with acting. It is really more psychology than anything. So, I was going through a two or three year period where I was going to auditions, hitting out of the park and then not getting the role. It was always the same feedback – “He is our guy if we go his way.” Then, it was, “We’re going to go another way.” It was always that. So, I felt encouraged yet I wasn’t getting any jobs. When I did the “Gilmore” audition I had (what I refer to as) “the dumb courage of the truly burnt out.” I didn’t care anymore and I was too busy with other things. I’m a very busy guy. I like to stay busy and I just didn’t really have time for it anymore. I read the script and yes, obviously, this is a fantastic script. I won’t get this script. There are too many other people who are going to want this script who are big names. The writing is fantastic. I haven’t seen a script like this in five years. I really have no chance. So, I prepared my material the way I always prepare my material. I went in and I just didn’t care anymore. I was so the character that they only saw me for the role and stopped anyone else from coming in for the role. I think it was because I just didn’t care and they sensed that I didn’t care and that was perfect for the character. And not that I was rude to anybody – I’m not rude. It was just, “Hey guys. How are you doing? I kind of know this isn’t going to work out. So, what do I care? Let it fly, have a good time and then I gotta get out of there.” That’s kind of what I did and it worked. [laughs] It wasn’t any plan. It just kind of worked out that way. But I did feel I was definitely in the right room. I got them and they got me. I vibed with Amy and I vibed with the director. So, it all felt good, but I’d felt that way before and was wrong – not getting the job. By the time I got home I had the offer so I was quite shocked and very pleased. I knew that would lead to something and it did. They offered two more episodes and I said no. Then, they offered four more episodes and I said no. My manager at the time just said, “Listen, you know you want him. You want him, you love him so let’s go. He has great chemistry with Lauren and you know that the Luke character is a big deal. You know that the show needs it.” So, they came ahead and offered a real contract. That was the moment when I realized my life was going to change. I knew the series was going to run. I looked at my manager and we realized what happened – this is the moment. Life has been much different ever since…and that was sixteen years ago. So, it’s been a good sixteen years. Absolutely! It changed everything. It changed everything! It boils down to one audition where your life changes and this was that moment.

Q) Luke has become this incredible inspiration of “relationship goals” where he supports Lorelai, but also calls her out on her stuff. He has become this iconic character – through you and the writing. What does he mean to you?

A) What Luke represents to me mostly is the message to hold on to yourself. Be yourself at an age where everyone is kind of self-obsessed and we’ve definitely become a more selfish people. Our identity is far more selfish than it ever was. I think the clarion call that he is sending out is, “I’m a throwback guy. I don’t really care about me so much. I care about the people I love.” I think that is the way men used to be overall. Just sort of, “I’m going to hang back here. I don’t want any of the credit. I’m just going to take care of my family and the people that I really care about. I’m not going to try to sit around and be friends with everybody because I know that isn’t possible.” So, really the best way to live his life is to just be true to himself and true to the people he loves. There is something quite refreshing to that. I know the reason I got the job was because I didn’t try to make him likeable. Because that is really the job of the actor – to take a role no matter abhorrent (and I’m not saying that about Luke but he is a little edgy for TV [let’s face it]). But you needed a harder edge in a show like this because there is so much bubbles and lace. [laughs] There is so much lighthearted banter that you need that sort of counterweight, but you can’t have a guy in there who is trying to be likable because that is not what he is doing. Again, he is iconic because it is a throwback character. It goes back to a simpler time, which I think Amy and Dan [Palladino] are trying to do. And because of the ease of which Amy helped me interrupt within the writing, you just sort of say those words and this character kind of comes to you. It is really the easiest role I ever had to inhabit because the writing pretty much got me there 100%. I had a little trouble getting him in the rehearsal for the revival scene we did at Luke’s just because it had been nine years and I was a different guy and therefore Luke was a different guy. So, it took a couple of minutes to sort of get it back. But I think that’s the reason – he is beautifully contrasted, he is a counterweight, he’s a throwback character and everybody hates a kissass and he is anything but! He is protecting his business, his personal space and he’s protecting his loved ones. This is how he operates. This is how he goes through his day. Love him or not – he is who he is!

Q) You do share so much of yourself and your life within the series with your fans. Is there anything you have kept for yourself?

A) There are tons of photos – selfies with the cast and crew. The usual stuff. We all pinched a couple of items from set. You have to have that stuff. In thirty years, you are going to want to say, “Hey! Look what I got,” and give it to your kids or grandkids. You never know! I’ve got a couple hats and a couple shirts. I have a couple of Luke’s uniforms from Season One and Season Two – all throughout the seasons. I’m going to basically design my own Luke museum and charge a quarter to come in and look at all the wonderful clothes – the boots and all of that stuff!

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life?”

A) I hope fans are satisfied and their concerns have been addressed – what they have been waiting for and what they so richly deserve. I hope we can keep doing it for them. This whole “Gilmore” experience is a fan experience. It’s a cultural and now a global phenomenon. It just seems to keep gaining strength and gaining life. There is more life in this because the “Gilmore” experience is life itself and it is a safe place to live your life for a couple of hours. And people like to visit this place. It’s like a sort of virtual theme park where they can go and rest their weary bones and weary brain and get a little recharge on a daily basis. And that’s how people see it. We’ll see what happens. I just think it has been a very positive thing for the world overall – to the fanbase. Relationships are healed because of this, between mother and daughter. I have had so many people come up to me and say, “I had no relationship with my mother. I had no relationship with my daughter. We started watching this show and we’ve come back together again. We lost each other for a number of years and now we’re back and we love each other. We saw what could be and what was possible.” And that’s a nice feeling to be able to have a very positive influence. It is just a very nice feeling. We’re not trying to save the world. We just want people to enjoy our show. They love it! They let us know that they love it in the nicest ways. It’s just been a very positive experience all the way around. If it continues, great! If not, then the fans have gotten everything that they have been waiting for and I hope that they are satisfied. I hope that they are happy.