‘Gilmore Girls’: What Richard Gilmore’s Edward Herrmann Found ‘Tough to Deal With’ on Set
Gilmore Girls’ Edward Herrmann, or Richard Gilmore to fans, didn’t always enjoy his time on the set of the popular TV show. The actor, who died in 2014 at the age of 71, once said he found a particular aspect of filming “tough to deal with,” especially after seven seasons.
Edward Herrmann found the length of ‘Gilmore Girls’ scripts challenging
Right from the start of the Gilmore Girls pilot, which debuted in October 2000, it became obvious it wasn’t a typical sitcom. Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) talked fast. Like, really fast. So did everyone else in their fictional town of Stars Hollow, Conn., as well as Richard and Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop).
The fast-paced dialogue meant the actors had to memorize more lines. Not only that but they also had to deliver them at a faster than normal pace. As Herrmann told A.S. Berman during an interview for The Gilmore Girls Companion in 2009, it became difficult.
“It was tough because the scripts were so long,” Herrmann said. “They were 70 and 80 pages, which is the size of a feature. An hour show is 46 minutes. So yes, there was lots of fast talking, and even for old pros like Kelly and myself, it was tough.”
Amy Sherman-Palladino had to be there if the Richard Gilmore actor tweaked a line
In the same 2009 interview, Herrmann explained his lines on Gilmore Girls could sometimes be revised. However, it could only happen if the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, happened to be on set that day.
“When Amy was on the set, one was able occasionally to modify a line,” Herrmann said. “I’d say ‘This is a dangling participle, you can’t do this,’ and you could schmooze her around and you could get it changed.”
The situation changed completely when Sherman-Palladino, who left Gilmore Girls after season 6, wasn’t there. Without her on set Herrmann, and presumably, the rest of the Gilmore Girls cast, couldn’t change one thing in the script.“If she wasn’t on the set, it was like adamant, you just couldn’t change anything,” Herrmann said.
“That got tough to deal with,” he added, noting the “lack of flexibility on that level was sometimes hard to take.” However, upon reflection, he understood why it had to be that way. “When you have a project like that, that you’re in control of, you want total control. Because there are so many people that want to take it away from you.”
Other ‘Gilmore Girls’ cast members found the dialogue difficult besides Richard Gilmore’s Edward Herrmann
Richard Gilmore’s Herrmann wasn’t the only Gilmore Girls actor to find the scripts challenging. George Bell, the show’s dialogue coach tasked with helping actors “Gilmore-ize” their lines, revealed on Patterson’s I’m All In podcast who found it particularly challenging.
Bell said Jackson Douglas (Jackson Belleville), Liz Torres (Miss Patty), and Kathleen Wilhoite (Liz) had trouble memorizing their lines. Others caught on pretty quickly. Bell recalled Graham, Yanic Truesdale (Michel Gerard), Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason), and Liza Weil (Paris Geller) not needing much help.
