Jared Padalecki & Alexis Bledel Were Really Asleep In This Gilmore Girls Scene

Turns out, some of that Stars Hollow magic Gilmore Girls fans love so much is a lot realer than anyone realized. At least, that was the case for one memorable scene in the show’s first season. Jared Padalecki recently opened up about how a key moment between Dean and Rory was not an acting choice that he or Alexis Bledel had made — because they weren’t even conscious when it was filmed.

Padalecki told the funny story in a sneak peek clip from the upcoming Kickstarter-funded documentary Drink Coffee, Talk Fast. “The hours on Gilmore Girls were pretty intense,” the actor said, before going on to describe a particularly long day shooting Season 1, Episode 9. In that episode, Rory and Dean return to town after a dance at Rory’s school Chilton. But instead of going home, they wandered into the dance studio where they end up falling asleep. As Padalecki revealed, the unplanned sleepover was a moment of art imitating life.

“There was an episode where Dean and Rory go to Miss Patty’s and they fall asleep. It had been, like, an 18-hour shooting day and we literally just fell asleep,” Padalecki said. “I remember somebody shaking my arm, and I’m like, ‘Oh, so I’m ready!’ They’re like, ‘No, no, we got the shot.’”

“So when there’s the scene with Rory and Dean sleeping, we’re f*cking sleeping,” the actor continued. “It’s the best acting I’ve ever done because I wasn’t acting. I was asleep.”

Padalecki concluded the story with one final remark about just how grueling the Gilmore Girls set hours could be: “Leaving the lot, I pulled up at 4 a.m. to drive home and security didn’t ask. They were like, ‘Gilmore Girls?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ They were like, ‘Yeah, figures.’ And then I left.”

Drink Coffee, Talk Fast is aiming to be released by the summer of 2026.