Emily Gilmore fanatics, Kelly Bishop sees you.
“I started hearing from — especially the younger viewers — they seem to like her,” Bishop, 81, says of her iconic character in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek of Drink Coffee, Talk Fast, an upcoming fan-generated Gilmore Girls documentary.
The doc — supported by a Kickstarter campaign launched on Tuesday, September 30, by codirectors Meghna Balakumar and Kevin Konrad Hanna — showcases various fans admiring the Gilmore matriarch’s “badass moments,” and Bishop couldn’t help but agree.
“I think it’s because she is so outspoken,” the actress says of Emily’s growing fanbase. “You can kind of like the fact that she’s a little bit mean. I don’t know, really, what it is, but I’m delighted by it. Who wouldn’t want to be the favorite person in the show? Give me compliments, I love it.”
As the aloof, society-minded mother to Lorelai and grandmother to Rory, Emily Gilmore may have been introduced as an antagonist originally, but the character undergoes substantial development over the course of Gilmore Girls’ seven seasons (2000-2007) and the Netflix revival A Year in the Life (2016).
“I’ve always liked playing difficult women,” Bishop says in Drink Coffee, Talk Fast. “The only character I ever played who was just genuinely sweet was Marjorie Houseman in Dirty Dancing and I found her hopelessly boring. Emily is not very apologetic. She’s a complicated woman.”
She adds of the titular Gilmore girls, “I would say that they all could use therapy. I think Emily was very hard on Lorelai. We learn a lot more about Emily Gilmore as the years go on and we start to get a little taste of her insecurities. You can see a lot more warmth coming out of her and a lot more vulnerability.”
Supporting cast member Emily Kuroda (who played Mrs. Kim on the series) shared her own thoughts on Bishop’s legacy on the show.
“Oh, she’s terrific,” Kuroda, 72, says in the doc. “In fact, when I first met her, I was starstruck. She still doesn’t know.”
Kuroda had been a fan of A Chorus Line, in which Bishop played Sheila Bryant. She took home the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her role in the Broadway show. Trained as a ballet dancer, Bishop later transitioned into film and television after her breakout success on the stage.
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“She originated that role. Those are her words,” Kuroda says. “So when I met her I was like — [gasps]. And all I could say was, ‘Nice to meet you, Kelly.’ I was awestruck.”
Yet, Bishop maintains that it was her audition that earned her the role of Emily Gilmore.
“I don’t know that [creator] Amy [Sherman-Palladino] even knew who I was,” she says. “I think it was the audition I gave. I did it the way she wanted to hear it. The pacing, the whole thing. She just said, ‘OK, that’s the one. That’s the one that I want.’ Amy has a lot of self-confidence and a lot of will. And if she wants it, she’s going to get it.”
