‘Gilmore Girls’ Told Tricia O’Kelley She Was Playing Nicole Leahy Too Likable
When she joined the cast of Gilmore Girls, Tricia O’Kelley knew she wasn’t the heroine. As Nicole Leahy, O’Kelley knew she was there to stand in between Luke (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham). Still, she apparently needed direction. O’Kelley remembers getting the notes to make Nicole less likable.
O’Kelley was a guest on Patterson’s I Am All In podcast on July 13. Reminiscing about their episodes together, Patterson was not aware of the notes O’Kelley received about her performance.
The first time ‘Gilmore Girls’ told Tricia O’Kelley to make Nicole Leahy less likable
Nicole and Luke eventually married and divorced, but it was never supposed to be that harmonious. O’Kelley remembers the episode with their first date being the turning point where it dawned on her she was the enemy on Gilmore Girls.
“I think it was even that episode, the first date, I remember getting a note that I was playing her too likable,” O’Kelley said on I Am All In. “I think that’s when I really knew that the audience was going to hate me and they’re supposed to hate me because I’m getting in the way of you and Lorelai. Still to this day, I think I’m the most hated person in television history.”
Tricia O’Kelley got the note again
There was another scene where Nicole was sitting in Luke’s Diner. O’Kelley no longer remembers the line, but remembers the instructions to change her inflection.
“I do specifically remember sitting at the table at the diner and getting a note that whatever, I don’t remember what the line or whatever I was delivering, that I was playing it too likable,” O’Kelley said.
One thing O’Kelley did not need to be told was to say her lines faster. She said she got the Gilmore Girls cadence right away.
“Then just the whole thing, being able to speed through my lines was such a comfort and such a relief for me because I was such a fast talker,” O’Kelley said. “I was thrilled.”
Nicole Leahy served her purpose on ‘Gilmore Girls’
O’Kelley didn’t mind changing her delivery to serve what Gilmore Girls needed. She knew Luke and Lorelai were the show’s long term will they/won’t they. Even when Nicole and Luke married, O’Kelley knew it wasn’t for long.
“I was serving a purpose,” she said. “That was the whole point. I was this bitch that was getting in the way of you guys getting together.”
Even though it took her a few episodes for the full scope of Nicole’s evil to dawn on her, O’Kelley felt good about Gilmore Girls from the beginning. She recalls having a great audition with Amy Sherman-Palladino.
“I vaguely remember being in the room,” O’Kelley said. “I remember thinking I was going to get it. So it must’ve gone well or maybe it was something Amy said in the room but I felt really good about it.”
