Published by Dan Cunning on Sep 1, 2015

Gilmore Girls Alumni

Actors

Gilmore Girls was an early stop for many who later found notoriety in more visible roles. Below lists actors with more than one appearance, which excludes the quick appearances of Mad Men’s Jon Hamm and New Girl’s Max Greenfield.

Melissa McCarthy

153 episodes

Jared Padalecki

63 episodes

Matt Czuchry

59 episodes

Todd Lowe

42 episodes

Milo Ventimiglia

37 episodes

Vanessa Marano

13 episodes

Chad Michael Murray

11 episodes

Adam Brody

9 episodes

Arielle Kebbel

9 episodes

Krysten Ritter

8 episodes

Riki Lindhome

5 episodes

Danny Pudi

4 episodes

Billy Burke

3 episodes

Nick Offerman

2 episodes

Directors

TV is more an actors or writers medium than directors who tend to work on an episode here and there. Though of the 12 people that directed 5+ episodes, half went on to bigger roles in shows highlighting strong females and family-oriented content.

Jamie Babbit

18 episodes

Lee Shallat Chemel

13 episodes

Kenny Ortega

12 episodes

Daniel Palladino

6 episodes

Lesli Linka Glatter

5 episodes

Gail Mancuso

5 episodes

Gilmore Girls’ format didn’t lend itself to easily introducing new characters like Seinfeld, 7th Heaven, or Friday Night Lights, making this list even more impressive. I regularly recognize faces in movies and shows only to find out they honed their acting chops in the fast-paced dialogue of Stars Hollow.