Gilmore Girls

Here’s part of an interview Sally Struthers did with TV Guide. I love that they asked about Babette and Gilmore Girls!

TVGuide.com: I’m a big Gilmore Girls fan.
Struthers: Oh, don’t you love that show?

TVGuide.com: I really do.
Struthers: The dialogue, the dialogue! It’s so fast and clever and dry.

TVGuide.com: But I’m disappointed that Babette hasn’t been in many episodes so far this season.
Struthers: Well, let’s see, they’ve probably shot 10 shows by now, and I’ve been in four of them, so that’s pretty good.

TVGuide.com: Will she be showing up in future episodes?
Struthers: You know something? I don’t know! When you’re not on a contract as a series regular, you don’t know when the phone’s going to ring. But I always look forward to it, and they always accommodate me, because quite often I’m somewhere doing a musical or a play, like I’m doing now.

TVGuide.com: Because yours is a recurring role, do you get to spend a lot of time with some cast members?
Struthers: Well, my scenes usually are with one of the leads — Lorelai and Rory or Luke, but there are some cast members I’ve never met! [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Really?
Struthers: Yeah, I had someone come up to me once and say, “Hi, I’m on Gilmore Girls, too, but I’ve never been in a scene with you.” It’s shot like a movie — with one camera — and it takes eight working days to shoot one episode. [There's] a day or two that you go in to film your scenes, and it isn’t the same day that some other characters [are filming]. The kids who Rory goes to school with at Yale? I haven’t met any of them!

TVGuide.com: Well, Babette knows everything that’s going on. Is it fun to play a town gossip?
Struthers: It is! And I don’t know if you saw the season opener when she talks about herself and says that she has a loud voice and people tell her she needs to talk softer? She’s even loud when she says it. [In Babette's voice] “I need to talk softer!” I know somebody named Marissa, who has a very loud voice, so there’s a little bit of Marissa in the character I’m playing, and there’s a lot of Ruth Gordon.

TVGuide.com: Babette really cracks me up. I love when she gets on Luke’s nerves, or asks Lorelai a million questions. There’s something overwhelming but also endearing about her.
Struthers: Yeah. I just love all these characters. When you’re young, they try to fit you into some sort of ingenue role, but I was never that because I’ve always been a comedian. So as you get older and they offer you these delicious, quirky roles, you just jump into them with glee. They’re much more interesting to play, usually, than the lead… and a lot less pressure!

TVGuide.com: Do you have a favorite episode?
Struthers: I think maybe when our cat, Cinnamon, died, and we had the wake at Babette’s house. I loved doing that one, because everything was scaled down to her height.

TVGuide.com: Have you heard anything about this being the last season?
Struthers: Oh, rumors galore. It’s totally up in the air, and I don’t think it’s going to be decided until the spring. And then it’s still going to be up to the CW — whether or not they would be willing to let it go forward with one or two characters missing and take the show in a whole other direction.

Ok, that last answer is very interesting. She makes it sound like some people are really not interested in returning. I wonder if it is Alexis Bledel. If the show doesn’t get another year, I have a feeling it will be because she had an itch to do more. I used to think Lauren would be the hold out, but if they back the Brinks truck up to her door… Who knows for sure? I guess we’ll see.

Sally Struthers, Gilmore Girls, Alexis Bledel