Sookie is back in Stars Hollow! At the Time 100 Most Influential People gala on Tuesday, Melissa McCarthy spoke about returning to the set of Gilmore Girls and how much it meant to her. According to IMDb, four episodes have been filmed and Melissa is listed as being in two. Melissa has always said how proud she is of GG and how she can’t wait to show it to her daughters when they are a little bit older. Fortunately, it sounds like her return was everything she’d hoped it would be.
Back to Stars Hollow! Melissa McCarthy opened up about her emotional return to the Gilmore Girls set while attending the Time 100 gala in NYC on Tuesday, April 26.
“I went back and visited about two weeks ago and saw the sets again and everybody on them and it just felt — oh, my God, I get so sentimental,” McCarthy, 45, told Us Weekly. “It felt like the greatest idea in the world. It was just lovely. It was just lovely.”
Earlier this month, McCarthy announced that she would be reprising her role as Sookie St. James in the Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls, despite saying earlier that she would not be involved. The Boss actress revealed the news during The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 7, stating that prior commitments almost kept her from joining the project, which stars Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore).
“There was the longest time when it was just not going to work out, schedulewise, and then once we decided, like, ‘Is there any possible way?’ Something big fell out for me [and] something changed for them …” McCarthy explained to Us on Tuesday.
To date, Sookie is my favorite of Melissa’s characters. I love her absent-mindedness, her excitability and her terrible life advice. However I question how she was finally brought back to do the remake. GG creator Amy Sherman-Palladino initially claimed Melissa was too busy to join the reboot, however Melissa said she was never asked. Then Amy said they would fit Melissa in if she had time and Melissa said she still wasn’t asked but that she really was too busy. And then *poof* everything magically worked out. The whole thing comes dangerously close to sounding like a GG plot-line.
At the Time 100 gala, Melissa gave a lovely – and very funny – speech. She opened by pretending to be reading the wrong notes then she thanked biologist Dr. Kathy Niakan for looking into garden gnomes as opposed to the human genome. In closing, Melissa addressed everyone in the room by saying they likely got there because somewhere along the line, they were told they couldn’t do something and went ahead and did it anyway. “I would like to thank you, in all sincerity, for your anarchy… Thinking outside the box like that will change the world, and it doesn’t matter how small or how big.” You can see her wonderful speech here. Melissa sounds just a little bit nervous. That just makes me like her more.
Photo credit: Getty Images and Fame/Flynet Photos
They weren’t going to have her in the reboot because they were afraid she’d overshadow it. Then they realized that *not* having her in it was starting to overshadow the project. Then, POOF! all barriers disappeared like magic and she’s on the show.
I am so excited she’s going to be in the reboot. I was disappointed when I heard she hadn’t even been asked. I’m glad it worked out. Sookie is my favorite character of Melissa as well. I really don’t like any of her film characters, even the famous Bridesmaids character. In GG, I thought she was treated respectfully and her body was never used for laughs, as it is in many of these films. I am over reboots in general, but I will check this out!
Love GG and love her!!!
I adore her since the old GG days. Spy was really funny too, loved the duo she made with Miranda Hart.
Have they already set a premiere date for the new episodes? I couldn’t find it anywhere.
No, I was looking for the date as well and cannot find it anywhere. The first episode is entitled “Winter,” so perhaps sometime around then.
I CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG. I’m actually really interested in how they are shooting it. It seems like a really long shooting schedule for a handful of episodes/movies, but maybe that’s normal? I suppose it has to do with everyone’s availability.
Not that I know. But I read somewhere that it might be in the Fall.
Ah GG, a cornerstone of my youth.
I’ve really been loving her style lately.
Ditto! She looks fab and so stylish. Ever since she started her clothing line(some of which I’ve been coveting) she’s been on point
However they got there seems a bit weird, but I’m so glad she’s returning to the show. It wouldn’t be the same without her!
That older pic of her in the pink dress is the very embodiment of the 90s hahaha. Love it. I had a few of those bright cardigans embroidered with flowers, that I of course wore with flowered dresses. And the shoes! Nostalgia.
She is looking FABULOUS these days. Gorgeous person inside and out.
I came here to write the same thing!
Lol
Stars Hollow would never be the same without Sookie St. James! Gotta find my Luke’s Diner t shirt! Cannot wait for the episodes!!
Glad she got a scene and cant wait to watch! Sookie is my fave Mm character others are kinda low brow for cheap laughs 🙁
To this day, Gilmore Girls is the only thing I’ve seen Melissa in, but I flipping love her for it. To me, it sounds like a lack of communication early on, like Amy Sherman-Palladino was assuming she wouldn’t be available without actually asking her. I’m so glad it all worked out, because her absence would have been really noticeable. And I want to believe that Lorelai and Sookie lived happily ever after at the wildly successful Dragonfly Inn.
It did sound like a lot of miscommunication. I suspect it was also both person’s teams saying oh that won’t work, without actually talking to them.
I’m so glad it all worked out.
Love Melissa!!!
I always smile when I see photos of her. She really just lights up in photos with her smile. Very pretty.
Yes! She makes me happy. She’s so beautiful and bubbly and seems so warm. I love her.
I love GG and Sookie was always my favorite. The first movie I noticed Melissa in was Charlie’s Angels. It was a bit part and she stole the scene. I also loved her in Samantha Who? I always forget about that show, but I remember she was pretty good in it.