12 Actors You Forgot Were in ‘Gilmore Girls’

The Big Picture

• Max Greenfield gave a comedic performance as Lucas in Gilmore Girls before becoming the beloved Schmidt on New Girl.
• Leslie Odom Jr. wowed as Quentin Walsh, showing early signs of his future talent, in a brief but memorable spot on the show.
• Several future stars, including Rami Malek and Chad Michael Murray, made appearances on Gilmore Girls before hitting it big.

While much of Gilmore Girls’ leading cast has gone on to have very successful careers, it’s easy to forget how many other actors had a brief stint in Stars Hollow. Before they were taking over the screen and stage, a surprising number of future A-listers made their mark on the dreamy Connecticut town as ill-fated boyfriends, disgraced wives, and plucky college students. From blockbuster big-wigs to Broadway stars, let’s take a look back at some of the actors you forgot about in Gilmore Girls.

‘New Girl’s Max Greenfield as Lucas

Season 4, Episode 4

Before he was cracking us up on New Girl as cardigan-loving roommate Schmidt, Max Greenfield gave us a sneak peek of his comedic chops in Gilmore Girls as Dean’s (Jared Padalecki) friend, Lucas. Only appearing in the episode “Chicken or Beef?” for Dean’s bachelor party, Greenfield stumbles into Luke’s Diner singing a delightfully drunken fight song and wearing a grungy outfit that his future New Girl character wouldn’t be caught dead in (is that off the rack?!) While he has few lines and is only in one scene, Greenfield bros it up with the best of them, and examines a mug with such intoxicated intensity that you just know his acting potential was underutilized.

‘The O.C.’s Adam Brody as Dave Rygalski

Recurring, Seasons 3 and 4

On the list of Gilmore Girls characters that left us too soon, Adam Brody’s Dave Rygalski is definitely near the top. Joining the recurring cast in Season 2 as Lane’s (Keiko Agena) new bandmate and future love interest, Brody brought a charming awkwardness to the Gilmore Girls boyfriend brigade — a group previously reserved for brooding bad boys. From joining a Christian music ensemble to reading the entire bible in one night just for Lane’s mom’s approval, Dave proved his loyalty time and time again.

Brody’s character was a great addition to the show until his character decided to jet off to California for, ahem, college (thanks a lot, The O.C.) and was never seen again. While fans continue to ponder the potential love story that could have continued between Dave and Lane, it was fun while it lasted, and we couldn’t have asked for a better first boyfriend for our beloved Lane.

‘Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr. as Quentin Walsh

Season 6, Episode 16

In a brief guest spot on Gilmore Girls, future Tony Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. used his sparse screen time to dazzle the audience as Quentin Walsh — a.k.a. “Pompous Princeton Guy.” Just as silver-tongued and self-assured as his Hamilton character, Odom Jr. spars with Rory (Alexis Bledel) at a panel for their competing college newspapers, and proved even back in 2006 that he was a natural scene-stealer.

Season 6, Episodes 13 and 14, Season 7, Episodes 6 and 7

Three years before he stole our hearts as Abed Nadir on Community, Danny Pudi guest starred on Gilmore Girls as Raj, a college student who works with Rory on the Yale Daily News. While he doesn’t do much other than gift Rory a comically large pencil when she steps down as editor of the paper, Pudi demonstrates a sweet likability and the ability to muster up an Abed-level panic when his computer crashes.

‘Mad Men’s Jon Hamm as Peyton Sanders

Season 3, Episode 5

Before Don Draper, there was Peyton Sanders, a handsome stranger that peaks Lorelai’s (Lauren Graham) interest at an auction. No stranger to cameos, Jon Hamm appears to be a potential love interest for Lorelai, but on one disastrous date he, unfortunately, reveals himself to be a wine-snob, car-snob, and total mama’s boy.

‘Jessica Jones’s Krysten Ritter as Lucy

Recurring, Season 7

Joining as a recurring character in Gilmore Girls’ final season, Krysten Ritter plays Lucy, a free-spirited aspiring actress that Rory befriends at Yale. Lucy helps to fill the fun-friend void that lingers when Rory and Lane are separated by college, and it’s nice to see Rory actually making some new friends — even though Lucy’s boyfriend secretly holds a torch for Rory.

‘Aquamarine’s Arielle Kebbel as Lindsay Lister

Recurring, Seasons 3-5

Arielle Kebbel, who we’ve come to know from hits like Aquamarine, John Tucker Must Die, and the After franchise, starred as Lindsay, an old classmate of Rory’s on Gilmore Girls. Lindsay is the first girl that Dean dates after Rory and the two go on to get married in Season 4. After Dean cheats on Lindsay with Rory in the Season 4 finale, “Raincoats and Recipes,” Kebbel demonstrates her acting chops throughout Season 5 as she makes us feel bad for a character that, honestly, we never really liked. As we watch her try to preserve her marriage and later watch her grieve its dissolution, we’re reminded that Lindsay’s only real crime on Gilmore Girls was falling in love with Dean.

The Twilight Franchise’s Billy Burke as Alex Lesman

Season 3, Episodes 11, 12, and 14

While it’s easy to confuse him without the signature stache, before he was hot dad Charlie Swan in the Twilight movies, Billy Burke played Alex Lesman in Season 3 of Gilmore Girls. The entrepreneur briefly dates Lorelai after they meet at a seminar for starting one’s own business, and their relationship is spotlighted in a few episodes as they embark on a coffee tasting, a fishing trip, and a weekend getaway to New York. While Alex and Lorelai weren’t meant to be (he’s honestly just… sort of forgotten), Burke brought some cool-guy charm to the show and gave Lorelai’s bantering abilities a run for their money.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s Rami Malek as Andy

Season 4, Episode 11

Another Twilight alum, Academy Award winnerRami Malek guest stars as Andy, a classmate of Lane’s when she briefly attends a Seventh-day Adventist College. In his few lines, Malek shows off his comedic timing skills while also leaving us to hope we never have to work on a group project with him.

Honorable Mentions

Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach as Gil

Recurring, Seasons 4-7, A Year in the Life, “Winter”

Certified metal-head and occasional actor Sebastian Bach rocked our screens as recurring character Gil, a sandwich shop owner by day and Hep Alien’s guitarist by night.

Journalist Christiane Amanpour as Herself

Season 7, Episode 22

Real-life journalist and Rory’s ultimate role model Christiane Amanpour appears briefly in the Gilmore Girls series finale to offer Rory advice at the Dragonfly Inn.

‘One Tree Hill’s Chad Michael Murray as Tristan Dugray

Recurring, Seasons 1 and 2

In one of his earliest roles, Chad Michael Murray charmed as Tristan Dugray, a smooth-talking rebel at Chilton Prep on Gilmore Girls. While his time on the show was short-lived, as he moved on to other CW projects like Dawson’s Creek and later, One Tree Hill, Tristan’s devil-may-care swagger made his character an instant classic and a Gilmore Girls staple.