During the Filming of Gilmore Girls, Jared Padalecki Felt Like He Was “In a Nightmare Where You're Naked at School”
While working on Gilmore Girls, a situation happened to Jared Padalecki that he compared to “a nightmare where you're naked at school”.
When Jared Padalecki worked on Gilmore Girls, he was still a young actor and was just learning to navigate his profession. So it's natural that mistakes could happen to him and he didn't know everything that an actor's job entailed. And it was in connection with this that a troublesome situation arose for him, which was a downright nightmarish experience.
Padalecki, due to the fact that he didn't have a leading role, didn't appear in many scenes, and thus wasn't needed on the Gilmore Girls set every day. During an interview with the Chicago Tribune (via E! Online), he recounted how one time he was off until Friday, so he went out on the town with friends on Monday night, not expecting that he might be needed on set the next day. But he woke up with 20 missed calls and the information that scenes would be shot with him that day.
He explained that the sudden change resulted from the fact that Lauren Graham had retained and they had to postpone filming scenes with her, and had to shoot something else instead.
I had 20 missed calls and text messages. I shot out of bed, had a cup of coffee and a water, jumped in the shower and then drove over to Warner Bros. I was probably two hours later than they were hoping and I didn't have the scene prepared, but I knew the basics of what was going on.
Fortunately, Padalecki didn't have much to say in those scenes, so he was able to prepare for the filming in a hurry while his make-up was being worked on. The actor compared the whole experience to a nightmare in which you appear naked at school.
It was basically the feeling of that nightmare where you're naked at school. Except unlike being naked at school, this was naked at school and there are cameras everywhere and it will be on film for all time. So now, these days, I'm known for my over-preparation. If there's any scene in the episode we're shooting, I know it backward and forward, because I don't want to have that feeling again.
The unexpected situation was a valuable lesson for Padalecki, who learned that in his line of work there is no such thing as a day off and he must be prepared at all times when there are changes of plans during the shooting period, when he should be ready to work.
