Team no one! It has long been debated which of Rory Gilmore’s three boyfriends she should end up with, but, surprisingly, the cast of Gilmore Girls couldn’t care less. Yanic Truesdale, who reprises his role of Michel Gerard in the Netflix revival, reveals exclusively to Us Weekly that the love triangle (or square?) between Rory (Alexis Bledel), Dean, Jess and Logan was never a topic of discussion around the watercooler on set.
“It’s not something that has as much importance to us,” Truesdale, 46, tells Us. “Obviously I hear that all the time, and I know it’s a big thing for people, but for us it’s not even something we talk about. Not for us.”
Rory’s love life has been of interest since the show’s debut in 2000. Still, it’s unclear if she will actually get a happily ever after with any of the three men in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which debuts on Friday, November 25.
Here’s a quick recap of her leading men:
Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki): The Doose’s Market employee was Rory’s first boyfriend, first kiss and high school sweetheart. He broke up with her during the Stars Hollow Dance-a-thon because of her attraction to Jess. In season 6, they slept together while Dean was married.
Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia): Bad boy! Rory fell for Luke Danes’ nephew when he came to Stars Hollow. She kissed him before Sookie’s wedding; he wrote notes in her books and got underneath Dean’s skin — until he finally won the girl. They split, but he’d later return when she was with Logan and called her out for changing so much.
Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry): “You jump, I jump, Jack!” Logan and “Ace” met at Yale University. His father, Mitchum Huntzberger, briefly crushed Rory’s journalism dreams. She declined Logan’s marriage proposal in season 7.
Truesdale, for his part, always rooted for Dean, but teases, “None of them are good enough, perhaps.”
In real life, Bledel, 35, dated Ventimiglia, 39, from 2002 to 2006. Although the pair kept their romance under wraps in public, Truesdale tells Us that it was obvious to the cast that they were an item.
“We knew everything that happened on set. I knew everything about her. You’re a family, you work together every day, you know what’s happening. And she was a kid, so it’s really easy to read,” he says. “I didn’t work with them. I rarely had scenes with Alexis and Milo. Never. Not even once!”
“For me she’s [still] a kid, even though she’s thirtysomething and she’s a mom!” he adds. “It’s a big shift to see her with the baby and everything, but at the same time it’s wonderful because it’s life.” (Bledel and her husband, Mad Men alum Vincent Kartheiser, secretly welcomed a baby boy last year.)
Fans of GG, of course, are dying to find out who Rory finally ends up with — if she ever actually chooses. But she’s not the only one with a possible romantic story line in revival. As Truesdale exclusively tells Us, more of Michel’s personal life will be shown in the new episodes.
“Lauren [Graham] read the script before me and said, ‘You will be very happy,’” he shares. “She gave me the rundown of what was happening with my character. … I’ve always wanted to share a little bit more of who he is and his backstory and what he does. The more the audience knows about your character, the more they connect with you. I’ve always been craving it.”
For more with Truesdale, read his Q&A below:
US WEEKLY: What was the first revival table read like?
YANIC TRUESDALE: Like a party! We all applauded at the top of the read and [creator] Amy [Sherman-Palladino] was like, ‘Well, this is happening!’ And we all started clapping and cheering. Gilmore Girls has always been special for the audience, but it was special for us. So to have another shot at a show that has such a big place in people’s hearts — it’s kind of like a gift.
US: Who did you sit next to?
YT: I was next to Lauren and Rose [Abdoo]. The first table read, we were nervous. The scripts were very good, [but] we hadn’t played those parts in eight years. … You want it to be great, but you’re kind of sitting [at the edge of] your chair.
US: Are you anything like Michel?
YT: I’m superorganized, but I would say the link to me with Michel is really his sarcasm. And his dry humor, which is very much my humor. But I’m not rude! Sarcastic, but not rude.
US: What was it like when Melissa McCarthy signed on?
YT: It was like, finally! The family is together. My Gilmore Girls experience is with Lauren and Melissa, and that’s the team at Dragonfly. So for me, for her not to be there was insane. It felt supergood.
US: Did you take anything from set?
YT: Yes! I stole a suit.
US: What was your favorite revival episode?
YT: I love them all! I have a lot of stuff in “Fall.” Michel is at a crossroads in his life and has to make decisions. It’s interesting.
US: Does the revival end on a cliffhanger?
YT: I think no matter how it ends, people will want more. I guarantee you that. I think people will want more, but there’s no plan of having more. There was no plan when we ended the other one, so who knows?
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life debuts on Netflix on Friday, November 25.
