'Gilmore Girls' Latest News: Melissa McCarthy Confirmed to Appear in Episodes of Revival Series
It is official: Sookie St. James will be returning to the "Gilmore Girls" revival by Netflix. Melissa McCarthy confirmed her involvement with the series. She announced her reprisal of her role as Sookie during her guest appearance on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" Friday.
The star told DeGeneres excitedly, "I'm going to go back and do it. [Series creator] Amy Sherman-Palladino is going to squeeze me in to do it. I'm very happy to go back to Stars Hollow."
Fans initially despaired when it looked like McCarthy's schedule was just too busy to allow her to sign in for her old role. She was on a press tour to promote her newest film "The Boss," recently released April 8.
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In February, the creator of the show, Amy Sherman-Palladino issued an open invitation to the star, even though it seemed impossible to get into the latter's calendar.
Pallidino said, "… I have said [to her team] is, 'Look, if Melissa is available and has an afternoon free, I'll write her a scene. Melissa was one of us. If she has a spare moment to run over [to the set]—even if for just a cameo—we would be totally game. And if it's a last-minute thing, I would write her in and we would figure it out …"
McCarthy claimed she never got the invite to revival cameo, saying so on Twitter, "Thanks for the invite, but sadly no one asked me or Sookie to come back to Stars Hollow. Wish them all the best!!"
So it seemed the end of hope for fans to see their favorite bandana-wearing, all-around-funny cook Sookie again. McCarthy starred in the original series back in 2000 on The WB, which ran for seven seasons until 2007. A "Gilmore Girls" revival without Sookie St. James would have meant doing away with an important and necessary part of the show.
In a last-ditch effort, Palladino invited McCarthy again at her EW interview. "We've just put it out into the universe; we're here until May 10. I know what the scene is … She can drive up, run in, shoot it, and run out ..."
On the DeGeneres show, McCarthy shared how the schedule was finalized.
"They're making four new movies of the Gilmore Girls, which is a show that was near and dear to my heart for four years, and we could not get those schedules to work … literally about an hour and a half ago, we figured out ..."
Now the question on everyone's mind is: How deep is McCarthy's involvement in the show going to be? If the scene the star will be in can be shot in merely two hours, it is not likely to be that much involvement. It is possible that the appearance will be no more than a cameo role, as had been the very least hoped for.
But hey, Sookie's in.
