From Stars Hollow to Manhattan! The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel reunited creator Amy Sherman-Palladino with several of her former Gilmore Girls cast members for both brief and prolonged cameos.
Before season 4’s February 2022 premiere, the Amazon Prime Video series made headlines after announcing the arrival of two beloved actors from the CW series, including Milo Ventimiglia, who played Jess Mariano.
“They were the ones who really gave me my break,” the This Is Us star said of the Bunheads showrunner and her husband, Daniel Palladino, during a January 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “They’re the ones who kind of put me on the map with Gilmore [Girls] and with Jess.”
He noted at the time: “They are the kinds of people that, for me, I was like, one, I’m going to know them the rest of my life; and two, anytime they call, I’ve got to be there. So, if they’re like, ‘Hey, Mi, why don’t you come in and [do] a small bit on the show we’re working on,’ ‘Great!’ ‘Hey, if you could take us to the airport,’ ‘Sure!’ Like, whatever you need, fake Mom and Dad.”
While few details about the Heroes alum’s Maisel character have been revealed, photos taken on set seemingly teased his connection with Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan). Michael Zegan, who plays Midge’s ex Joel Maisel, went on to hint at how Ventimiglia’s character adds to the former couple’s tension.
“Well, I think any new guy that they introduce is gonna affect Joel. It’s not like he’s just moved on and he’s over it,” the Boardwalk Empire alum exclusively told Us Weekly in February 2022. “Even despite the fact that he’s with Mei [Stephanie Hsu], any guy who ends up with Midge, I think [Joel’s] gonna be insanely jealous of him. I mean, he’s the father of her children, and they have a history. There’s a shared love between each other.”
Zegen quipped: “I get it. Milo’s a really good-looking guy, but — and obviously, there will be jealousy as well — but I think it’s really anybody. It can be the ugliest dude in the world. And, you know, if he hears that they’re together, it’s gonna cause some problems.”
Ventimiglia isn’t the first Gilmore Girls alum to pop by for an episode of the period comedy. Ahead of the season 4 premiere, it was also announced that Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore on the WB series) would be featured on Maisel.
Daniel told TVLine in February 2022 that Bishop — who worked with the married couple on ABC Family’s short-lived series Bunheads — plays “Emily Gilmore on steroids.”
Gilmore Girls originally ran for seven seasons on The WB (which later became The CW) between 2000 and 2007, helmed by the Palladinos. While the showrunners eventually parted ways with the network ahead of the final season, they eventually reunited nearly the entire OG cast — including iconic mother-daughter duo Lauren Graham (Lorelei Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore) — for Netflix’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life revival in November 2016. After Bunheads was canceled, the Palladinos began working on Maisel, which premiered in 2017.
Scroll below to see which Gilmore Girls alums have dropped by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel set: