The cast of "Gilmore Girls" spoke at breakneck speeds, and there's a good reason for that.
In USA TODAY's exclusive clip from the new "Gilmore Girls" documentary, "Drink Coffee, Talk Fast," cast members spill on how they kept up the pace of Amy Sherman-Palladino's coming-of-age series.
The seven-season series − which aired on The WB, and later The CW, from 2000-2007 − followed the mother-daughter duo Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Bledel)as they navigated life, love and family dynamics in their small town of Stars Hollow. Ahead of each episode, the cast says they were handed 80-page-long scripts, compared to traditional episodic scripts that were about 40 to 50 pages.
as an adult
Rose Abdoo, who appeared in close to two dozen episodes as town mechanic Gypsy, says every word served a purpose − and on-set refreshments often helped with the fast talking.
"We used to have delicious coffee drinks on set," Abdoo says. "We all talked even faster, and I thought, 'OK, they're not just trying to treat us. We're really all jazzed up now.'"
"It wasn't one of those shows where people could improvise... no, every word is there for a reason," she adds.
Jared Padalecki, who played Rory's love interest Dean Forester, says the cast quickly learned to chew up their words.
"We got 85 pages that we got to get into 42 minutes," Padalecki recalls. "Like, chop chop!"
Keiko Agena, who played Rory's hometown best friend Lane Kim, remembers how every line had to be "word-perfect."
Her onscreen mom, Mrs. Kim, played by Emily Kuroda, echoes Agena. "You can't say a 'the' if there was an 'an,'" Kuroda says.
And Chad Michael Murray, who played Rory's well-off classmate Tristan Dugray, also felt the pressure to speak a mile a minute. "Talk faster," Murray remembers being told. "I don't want to cut any pages out of this show."
'Gilmore Girls' fandom inspires 2 documentaries
"Drink Coffee, Talk Fast," directed by Meghna Balakumar and Kevin Konrad Hanna, paints a detailed portrait of the early 2000s show that helped make Graham and Bledel household names. Although the independent documentary has no affiliation with Warner Bros. Television or the producers of "Gilmore Girls," and the two leading women did not participate in the doc, other stars like Kelly Bishop, Sally Struthers, Liz Torres, Emily Kuroda and Kathleen Wilhoite appear in the project.
A documentary around the cult-classic is also heading to HBO Max,with show creator Sherman-Palladino, executive producer Daniel Palladino, and Graham expected to appear. Bledel has not been announced to return for the HBO documentary, and the streaming platform did not provide a release date. A "Gilmore Girls" book, tracing the creation of the coming-of-age series, by Sherman-Palladino and Graham, is expected to release in fall 2027.
Where can I watch 'Gilmore Girls'?
After its run on network TV, the mother-daughter dramedy spent 12 years on Netflix, before heading to Prime Video recently. Fans of the show can also stream "Gilmore Girls" on Disney+ and Hulu. "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,”a four-episode sequel, arrived at Netflix in 2016 and will leave the platform on Nov. 24.
Fans can watch"Drink Coffee, Talk Fast" along with exclusive bonus content on the documentary's website. The documentary will be available to stream on Apple, Google, and other major platforms on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The news arrives ahead of the "Drink Coffee, Talk Fast" premiere at the Palace Theater in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 13, as part of the Secret Movie Club and the Los Angeles International Film Festival.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Gilmore Girls' cast reveal surprising detail in new documentary | Exclusive
