Scott Patterson Of 'Gilmore Girls' Recalls A "Disturbing" Scene With Lauren Graham In Which He Felt "Really Embarrassed"
The hit show "Gilmore Girls" still touts a cult following long after the final season ended. Scott Patterson, who played Lorelai's eventual husband Luke Danes, opened up on his podcast "I Am All In" about one scene in particular that left him feeling uncomfortable on set.
Lorelai and Luke were known for their witty banter and sarcastic digs, and Scott Patterson revealed on his podcast that the actors were not allowed to "diverge from the script, ever." There was a scene in season 3 that Patterson didn't enjoy being part of and it included a moment when the whole cast was talking about his butt.
Scott Patterson of 'Gilmore Girls' Recalls a "Disturbing" Scene With Lauren Graham in Which He Felt "Really Embarrassed"
In the episode titled "Keg! Max" there was a scene when Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) were looking at Luke's butt after Sookie accidentally touched his behind. Throughout the rest of the scene, Lorelai keeps talking about Luke's butt and referencing it. In fact, people kept talking about his butt long after the scene ended.
“That was disturbing. I realized it wasn’t OK, and it didn’t make me feel comfortable at all. It made me feel really embarrassed, actually,” Patterson said. “It is infuriating to be treated that way — it is infuriating — because you’re being treated like an object. It’s disturbing, and it’s disgusting. And I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes.”
“It was all about the butt, the butt, the butt, the butt. When we weren’t filming, we were sitting down — people were still talking about the butt, the butt, the butt,” he continued. “It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set, and I couldn’t wait for that day to be over.”
He said the whole thing was shocking and left him dealing with a "level of shame," but he never shared this with Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls. Patterson said "it's never okay" to treat a cast member that way. He didn't feel comfortable with the scene but he never said anything, something that he's angry at himself for.
"But, you know, I had this job and I didn’t want to make waves and all that," he continued. "It’s as disgusting for women to objectify men as it for men to objectify women and it’s as harmful." He said it made him feel like "some kind of meat stick."
Patterson said it made him question how this would make him look as a professional. “I mean, really, what am I involved in here? It really questioned why I was doing the show at the time,” he said. “Somebody had to pay the price for that. And I’m still paying the price for it."
Neither Sherman-Palladino nor Graham have responded to this.