Team Jess, this one’s for you.
Milo Ventimiglia is revisiting his “Gilmore Girls” days with a rare comment about “being with” his former co-star and real-life ex, Alexis Bledel.
In an interview with Us Weekly published Monday, the actor, who played Jess Mariano on the popular comedy-drama series, reflected on his time on the show.
“The episodes are for an audience to pick apart, dissect,” Ventimiglia, 49, told the outlet. “For us to make it, [it’s] the experience of making it. What were those days like on set? Hanging out with Jared Padalecki, being with Alexis. The experience is something that I always lean into, that really fills me up.”
The “This Is Us” actor joined “Gilmore Girls” in its second season and went on to play the boyfriend of Bledel’s character, Rory Gilmore, throughout Season 3, making recurring appearances until the series finale in 2007.
Notably, some of his fondest memories from the show involve Bledel, now 45, whom he dated in real life from 2002 to 2006.
“I remember shooting on the backlot of Warner Bros. with Alexis and getting on the bus and carrying a bag that the prop guy wanted to make really light,” Ventimiglia recalled. “But I [said], ‘Yeah, but it looks full and it’s huge, so it should be heavy. Put a sandbag in it.’
“Those are the things that I think about. I don’t think about the episode,” he added.
Elsewhere in his interview with Us Weekly, Ventimiglia confirmed that he is expected to appear in the upcoming “Gilmore Girls” documentary currently in production for HBO Max, which is being made by series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Lauren Graham, who portrayed Lorelai Gilmore, is also set to appear in the project.
As for preparing for the documentary, Ventimiglia told the outlet he “probably won’t watch any [episodes] to refresh” his memory of the series, adding, “I have no idea what I’m getting into,” and revealing that he “[has] yet to record [his] part.”
“I think the world of Amy, and Lauren, too. I have no idea what we’re going to talk about. It was 26 years ago that I made the show,” he said.
Despite the years that have passed since “Gilmore Girls” wrapped, the “Heroes” actor said fans still approach him to ask about specific lines from the show.
“It’s funny: I’ll have people run up to me and be like, ‘Hey, do you remember that time on ‘Gilmore’ when you said this?’ I’m like, ‘That was 26 years ago.’ I’m like, ‘Tell me something about your life from 26 years ago.’ They’re like, ‘I wasn’t born,’” he said.
Ventimiglia has been married to model Jarah Mariano since 2023. The couple share two children: daughter Ke’ala Coral, whom they welcomed last year, and son Rock-Anthony Makoa.
Bledel, for her part, married actor Vincent Kartheiser in 2014, and the pair finalized their divorce in 2022. The former couple share a son, whom they welcomed in fall 2015.
The post Milo Ventimiglia makes rare comment about ‘being with’ ex Alexis Bledel on ‘Gilmore Girls’ set appeared first on Page Six.
