‘Gilmore Girls’: Alexis Bledel Said Rory Changes After College Were ‘Inevitable’
A controversial Gilmore Girls storyline was when Rory (Alexis Bledel) dropped out of Yale. Bledel said it was inevitable that college would change her character.
Bledel and Lauren Graham were on a Television Critics Association panel in 2005 for Gilmore Girls. By season 5, the Yale storyline had already played out and Bledel had strong opinions about where her character had gone.
Yale caused ‘a shift’ in Rory on ‘Gilmore Girls’, Alexis Bledel said
Rory changed at Yale and ultimately decided to leave college. To Bledel, this was inevitable.
“I definitely feel like a shift was made with my character,” Bledel said. “And I think it makes sense for her. It was sort of inevitable in a way because she was kind of on this path that was very hard to keep up. And she did for a while and then that was that.”
College is a time of change in real life too
Bledel also recognized that college is a time when young adults find themselves. Some stay on the path of higher education, but some find it is not right for them.
“It happens when anyone goes to college,” Bledel continued. “You just see how much more there is that you had no idea existed, and then you have experiences from there.”
The ‘Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham’s relationship as much
Practically, college kept Rory away from Lorelai. The show was still Gilmore Girls, so for it to continue, they sort of had to get the Gilmores back together, even if that meant a decision that most mothers would question. But, the heart of the show remained strong.
“As far as the relationship with her mom, I think it’s still so close,” Bledel said. “They always come back to each other, which is what I like about where the show has gone now. You know, they have this distance between them, and it always goes back to the two of them, kind of being each other’s sounding boards. So it’s still very much the heart of the show.”
Graham concurred.
“From the beginning, the idea of the show is here are two people who are friends first, I guess, and parent and child in a way in the traditional sense second,” Graham said. “We didn’t ask for the story to take this turn. I think it’s sort of natural, and I think you just still want to see that friendship through whatever is going on in both of their lives. You know, they still connect, and they help each other out.”
While Rory was exploring her options, Lorelai was embarking on a committed relationship with Luke (Scott Patterson). It was a bit of a switcheroo.
“I don’t feel like Lorelai seems more mature necessarily,” Graham said. “For her to stay in a relationship is growth and I think for Rory to, I don’t know, play around a bit is growth in a weird way for her.”
