CWBefore becoming one of the top working actors in comedy thanks to Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy, Melissa McCarthy was known for her seven-year run on The WB's beloved dramedy Gilmore Girls.
But she almost didn't get the role.
During her panel, Coffee With Amy-Sherman Palladino, at the 2015 ATX TV Festival in Austin, the delightful Gilmore Girls creator revealed Melissa McCarthy almost didn't get the role. (We shudder at the thought of anyone else playing the kooky Sookie!)
"To get Melissa, I had to fight," Sherman-Palladino revealed.
Say whaaa?! "They weren't sure. It wasn't that people didn't like her, but she was a different energy. She was a different kind of chick," she said. "And the part was just written for a woman, There was no body type, there was nothing specific about it. I was like, 'I need someone funny who could really act.'"
And while Sherman-Palladino knew from the minute McCarthy walked in the door and auditioned that she was the perfect person for the role, she said, "It was a tricky sell. And it took awhile…everyone came around, but it took a few shows."
Sherman-Palladino then went on to talk about Hollywood needing to "fight" to embrace "more Melissa McCarthys," saying, "But she is different and different is sometimes not the easiest thing to embrace. But that's true of life. So if we want people to embrace more Melissa McCarthys and more complicated parts…we got to keep putting them out there. We got to keep writing the parts, we got to keep fighting the fights, we got to keep willing to be fired, saying, 'You're wrong, Mr. Person With Money.' It's a fight. But anything worth doing is a fight."
PREACH.
One actor Sherman-Palladino didn't have to fight for? Milo Ventimiglia, who played Luke's (Scott Patterson) bad boy nephew Jess, one of Lorelai's boyfriends.
"Back then, you could say, 'There's this kid named Milo and he's adorable and I don't know what the part is yet, but I want him on the show.' And they would sign him," she explained. "It was sort of like, 'Milo. Adorable. Let's just get him before somebody else does.'"
Make sure to check back with us later for more scoop from Amy and the Gilmore Girls cast as we're going to be at the reunion panel at the ATX TV Festival! Plus, follow @tbrick2 and @eonlineTV for live-tweets from the panel and red carpet!