‘Gilmore Girls’: An On-Set Joke Got Melissa McCarthy In Trouble With 2 Tour Groups
Melissa McCarthy spent seven seasons on the set of Gilmore Girls. In recent years, her costars have all spoken openly about their favorite moments from the series. While McCarthy rarely discusses Gilmore Girls with the press, she did take part in a Reddit AMA in 2015. During the online event, McCarthy revealed her favorite moment from her time on the show happened during her on-set downtime.
Melissa McCarthy’s Sookie St. James isn’t in the Netflix ‘Gilmore Girls’ revival
McCarthy spent seven years on Gilmore Girls playing renowned chef Sookie St. James. The accident-prone chef was the perfect best friend and business partner for Lorelai Gilmore. Fans and critics largely consider Gilmore Girls McCarthy’s breakout role, and Sookie quickly became a fan favorite.
McCarthy almost didn’t play the famed inn chef, though. Alex Borstein was initially cast to portray Sookie in the pilot. When she couldn’t get out of her Mad TV contract, the team recast the role. Borstein still appeared in Gilmore Girls, though. She appeared in season one as Drella, the Independence Inn’s harpist. Later, she showed up at the Gilmore residence as Miss Celine, Emily Gilmore’s seamstress.
When it came time for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Melissa McCarthy did not return to the set. The actor revealed she initially wasn’t asked back for the revival because producers assumed she was too busy. That ended up being true as McCarthy’s scheduled didn’t align with production on A Year in the Life. However, there are no hard feels as the actor fondly looked back on her time as Sookie.
A baby joke got her in trouble, but was Melissa McCarthy pregnant during ‘Gilmore Girls’?
McCarthy’s favorite moment from Gilmore Girls might not be what you expected. The famed comedian said her favorite memory from the show came in her downtime on the set. That same moment also reportedly got her in trouble with not one but two different tour groups.
In a Reddit AMA, McCarthy revealed that while filming as pregnant Sookie, she liked to smoke a cigarette and hit her prop stomach to make the prop team laugh. The bit, which she agrees was in poor taste, was all fun and games until a tour group that McCarthy didn’t know was coming through watched in horror. A few days later, McCarthy repeated the gag, only to be caught by a second tour group. The groups had no idea that McCarthy wasn’t pregnant in real life. She insists no amount of explaining made it better.
McCarthy was not pregnant during two of her three on-screen pregnancies. The gag, according to McCarthy, happened during season 5, when Sookie was pregnant with Martha. In season 7, Gilmore Girls writers wrote a strange pregnancy arc into the final season to accommodate McCarthy’s first real-life pregnancy. Her daughter, Vivian Falcone, was born in 2007.
Melissa McCarthy worked with a ‘Gilmore Girl’s alum for Netflix
McCarthy’s time on the set of Gilmore Girls propelled her career forward. Much to the chagrin of fans, McCarthy didn’t appear in most of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. For fans who missed McCarthy’s signature interactions with other cast members, they have a chance to see it again, albeit in a different show.
McCarthy and Yanic Truesdale, the actor who portrayed Michel Gerrard on Gilmore Girls, collaborated on a Netflix original series. God’s Favorite Idiot is currently filming in Australia. The series, executive produced by McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone, hit Netflix in June 2022.
There are no concrete plans for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2. However, it sounds as if Melissa McCarthy would be open to returning if the Stars Hollow gang does reunite.
