Speaker 1: I am all in again. Let's us you. I am
Speaker 1: all in again with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: Scott Patterson, I am all in Podcast one eleven productions. iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts. Today is a recap of the Lauren Graham
Speaker 1: Walk of Fame ceremony October third, and I am joined
Speaker 1: by the illustrious, the wonderful, the gifted, the talented mister
Speaker 1: James Pettitt, who is the executive director of Content, Sales
Speaker 1: and Marketing at Warner Brothers Discovery Studios. James, Welcome to
Speaker 1: the show. Got all that Heck are you how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 2: I'm still uncloud nine from that amazing star ceremony. It
Speaker 2: was so good.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, it was just all feel good. Tell us
Speaker 1: about it, tell us take us through it.
Speaker 2: Okay, So shall we start from the very beginning?
Speaker 1: We start from the very beginning. Okay.
Speaker 2: So Scotty gets a car that is like the size
Speaker 2: of I don't know, two buses. It's this big, black,
Speaker 2: beautiful sedan and he pulls up this is an suv
Speaker 2: W hotel and like opens the door and there I
Speaker 2: am so super excited to see you. We are going
Speaker 2: to do this, but not just us, Like all types
Speaker 2: of people started coming from the show, from the twenty
Speaker 2: five years ago, from you know, even fifteen.
Speaker 1: Amy and Dan walked in, and Amy and Dan and
Speaker 1: embraced us like long lost cousins.
Speaker 2: And I must say Amy looked fantastic. She did right,
Speaker 2: The skin is so nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah she looked good. Yeah, good, she looked happy and.
Speaker 2: And like, gosh, she's smart. So we walk in, we
Speaker 2: go to the w hotel. We're greeted by a ton
Speaker 2: of security and they're like, okay, we're going to walk
Speaker 2: you through the crowds and get you all the way
Speaker 2: over to you know, where the star is being laid.
Speaker 2: And you know, there's like all this chipped away cement
Speaker 2: on the sidewalk and they're starting to like place the
Speaker 2: letters and they did all that like the day before,
Speaker 2: and it's like dried, I guess or whatever. But we
Speaker 2: have to walk through all the hotel, through different areas
Speaker 2: and then out to the crowd and then out to
Speaker 2: where like where everybody is. So we do that with Dan,
Speaker 2: with Amy, Sam Pancake, that's the person that like was
Speaker 2: doing like the ceremony m seat. So so we walk
Speaker 2: all out. Of course, you talked to so many fans
Speaker 2: and like was like fist bumping and all that.
Speaker 1: So that was so many people showed up, Mike, so.
Speaker 2: Many And the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is the one
Speaker 2: who puts this on. So there's like seven hundred members
Speaker 2: of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and they like vote
Speaker 2: on this, and it takes like years to get a star, honestly,
Speaker 2: so and it's all that. It's not like, oh, I
Speaker 2: can help with the star, but we help once, you know. Basically,
Speaker 2: So what we did was we tried to get as
Speaker 2: many casts to come back for the star ceremony. And
Speaker 2: then there are fifty seats, so that's that's the limit.
Speaker 2: That's all they ever do. It's fifty seats, and for
Speaker 2: us to be like two of those seats was just
Speaker 2: such an honor. It was beautiful. Yeah, And so we
Speaker 2: got our seats and we found out where we were
Speaker 2: because our names weren't them, And then they took you
Speaker 2: to photos in front of the like step and repeat
Speaker 2: as they call it. You walk the red carpet along
Speaker 2: with the other actors. And who did you get to
Speaker 2: like reunite.
Speaker 1: With, well, you know, Amy and Dan in the in
Speaker 1: the green room and in the bar area of the
Speaker 1: w hotel where we were drinking Coca colas. By the way,
Speaker 1: yes we're not drinking drinks.
Speaker 2: Maybe we have pepsi products by the way, that's right.
Speaker 1: They were very specific about that, you remember, I mean
Speaker 1: I remember the details, like, yeah, yeah, go ahead, give
Speaker 1: me cook so anyway, yeah, and then we just you know,
Speaker 1: we walked out and there was Kelly, there was Matt,
Speaker 1: there was Sam there one and that's it. Yeah, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: right right, and yeah, it was just so so many fans. So,
Speaker 1: you know, afterwards, one of the organizers where we were
Speaker 1: standing there waiting to get walked back by security, one
Speaker 1: of the organizers came up, nice guy, shook our hands
Speaker 1: and we were chatting them up, and he said, you guys,
Speaker 1: you guys do better than rock bands. Geez, look at
Speaker 1: these people. He did.
Speaker 2: He goes and he goes. Remember he said, oh, def
Speaker 2: Leppard's in a few days, I write as many people
Speaker 2: as give.
Speaker 1: Right, exactly exactly, because they do when they do this,
Speaker 1: like they do this a couple of times a month.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they sure do. It's exciting. It was so exciting.
Speaker 2: I mean, I had never been to one that was
Speaker 2: my one and only. At this point, I hope I
Speaker 2: get to go to another one, maybe yours, but no, gosh,
Speaker 2: it was such a tree.
Speaker 1: I'll be lucky to get a crack on the sidewalk,
Speaker 1: you know, busted sidewalk down somewhere in Cooma, right, maybe
Speaker 1: not even Hollywood. You know, I'd like to have a
Speaker 1: walk a Walk of Fame crack, you know, dedicated. That's all.
Speaker 2: Well they did. They also do it in Palm Springs.
Speaker 1: They really I don't need a whole square. I could share,
Speaker 1: you know, it could be a complex crack and I
Speaker 1: could share it with others maybe you, you and me.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, me, you and the gang. But okay, so
Speaker 2: we sat down.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: They started the ceremony, yes, which was really well tight
Speaker 2: put together. The only one you could see it was
Speaker 2: on the Walk of Fame dot com. And then they
Speaker 2: claimed that they said they had over ten thousand people
Speaker 2: watching it at the very beginning. There is that right now,
Speaker 2: They're like, we have ten thousand live viewers. Wow, whoa.
Speaker 2: And then I think Sam started and then Amy came
Speaker 2: up and gave really a fun speech.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: It was like just her brain like firing on all cylinder.
Speaker 2: She started to read her phone, you know, she wrote
Speaker 2: some things, but then she just went.
Speaker 1: Right, she went off script, she said, script, she started
Speaker 1: reading that little tiny print.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and told some really funny stories. Yes, yes, And
Speaker 2: then how the casting of Loralai happened? That amazing? Do
Speaker 2: you remember that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like they couldn't find the girl, the right girl,
Speaker 1: and like forever Lauren had a contract, she was committed
Speaker 1: to another show, yield another show, and it was on
Speaker 1: vacation and she didn't you know, Cassie people told her
Speaker 1: about Lauren, and Amy said, no, I don't want to
Speaker 1: see her because she's not going to be available, and
Speaker 1: if I fall in love with her, then I won't
Speaker 1: be able to have her, and then I'll I'll murder
Speaker 1: somebody and then I'll you all be accused of committing murder,
Speaker 1: not me or something like that, right, you know her
Speaker 1: hyperbolic way of speaking, right.
Speaker 2: So and WB Network at the time, Oh yeah, we're there.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then they couldn't find the right Laura line like
Speaker 2: they had found all you like before. So when they
Speaker 2: found her and then she went in and then they
Speaker 2: fell in love with her, and then she luckily got
Speaker 2: out of that other pilot like totally got out of it.
Speaker 2: You all went to Canada to shoot correct.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we went to Toronto.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is way different than Warner Brother's backlot.
Speaker 1: And way different, way different. Uh huh, you actually need
Speaker 1: a jack there exactly. Like it's got real weather. You know.
Speaker 2: She told some really great stories. She was presenting the
Speaker 2: portion of the star, and then the Hollywood Chamber of
Speaker 2: Commerce head came up. I forgot his name. Very nice gentleman,
Speaker 2: and like then they did the whole star lifting, which
Speaker 2: is very like like the reveal is so like, yeah, showy,
Speaker 2: it's no business.
Speaker 1: They have a wooden star and it's got five pieces
Speaker 1: of rope attached to it, and all five pulled up
Speaker 1: on the rope.
Speaker 2: And they pull the rope up and heavier.
Speaker 1: Than they thought and getting cement all over their shoes
Speaker 1: and things like that.
Speaker 2: Right, the name is revealed and it's like oh, and
Speaker 2: then I think Lauren came up and then she got
Speaker 2: really emotional too about the whole and can I tell
Speaker 2: you to red on the red carpet? Red on red
Speaker 2: is stun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of it's very star worthy. Oh yes,
Speaker 1: you know that's like when you compete with the red
Speaker 1: carpet and win. That's that's like a sign, right that
Speaker 1: they got it right that time, right, score right.
Speaker 2: And then YouTube got together for photos right after that reveal,
Speaker 2: which was oh nice. The fans went crazy.
Speaker 1: They did they really did? They really they love seeing
Speaker 1: us together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they love it. You reunited and it felt so good.
Speaker 1: So what stood out for you the most, James, at
Speaker 1: any moments that really capture the spirit of Gilmore Girls
Speaker 1: or Lauren herself.
Speaker 2: Lauren herself just how gracious she was about how the
Speaker 2: show really you know, was a part of this ceremony,
Speaker 2: like it like most of the fans like they called
Speaker 2: off like the Parenthood and this and Bad Santa and
Speaker 2: like different movies. And then but the crowd when they
Speaker 2: said Gilmore Girls was just like like just like so
Speaker 2: the show is like exactly why this star happened, right,
Speaker 2: you know? And that really hit home for me too,
Speaker 2: which was so nice.
Speaker 1: So back in your early days working at Warner Brothers
Speaker 1: together with Lauren, did you ever imagine she'd be getting
Speaker 1: a star on the Walk of Fame.
Speaker 2: I never, I never thought I but I never I
Speaker 2: would hope for that. I'm always hopeful, like because I
Speaker 2: worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer too, and I was like,
Speaker 2: I hope Sarah Michelle Geller gets a star, you know,
Speaker 2: things like that. So and the same with Dawson's Creek,
Speaker 2: James Vanderbeek, maybe, but everyone was so young and like
Speaker 2: the stars were not going out to super young people
Speaker 2: at the time they.
Speaker 1: Were, did James gelt One? I don't think So it's
Speaker 1: Sarah get One.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure because she has.
Speaker 1: A nice body of work, right, right, so.
Speaker 2: Pretty sure. I'll have to look. But what was it like?
Speaker 2: I what was I reading? It was like so many stars,
Speaker 2: Like it's like two thousand something. Forgot how many there were,
Speaker 2: but she's like twenty eight hundred and something.
Speaker 1: So right, Well, here's a question that the staff prepared.
Speaker 1: I think it's for me. How has Lauren impacted your
Speaker 1: own career for the way you approach acting? You know,
Speaker 1: what Lauren confirmed for me, James, is that I was
Speaker 1: on the right track and how I approach the work,
Speaker 1: that how I approach the work, that you know, my
Speaker 1: particular style and my particular discipline of approaching the work
Speaker 1: and the rehearsal process, and how important that was to me.
Speaker 1: It was also important to her, So our our sort
Speaker 1: of preparation and workhearsal styles were similar. So I thought, oh, yay,
Speaker 1: this is going to work.
Speaker 2: And you took that with you to your movies and everything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, everything I do. Yes, And it's always a joy
Speaker 1: to find somebody. And you know, the entire cast that
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls was like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I heard very collaborative, very.
Speaker 2: Collaborative, like study group and then truly.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, but I mean people like when they they'd
Speaker 1: fight for their choices, you know, and and they justify
Speaker 1: them and they'd argue, and it's like, yes, that's what
Speaker 1: you want. You want that spark, you know, you want
Speaker 1: the ideas to fly around and bounce off the walls
Speaker 1: and and best best idea wins kind of kind of deal.
Speaker 1: So that it was just such a raw, alive atmosphere
Speaker 1: all the time. It was just it was just fantastic. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you had some may have to work in that way.
Speaker 1: So so that's really what how she approached the work,
Speaker 1: how I approached my work, how everybody approached the work
Speaker 1: on that set is is you know you're in the
Speaker 1: right place. Yeah, you know, you know you're in the
Speaker 1: right place with the right people, and you have, you know,
Speaker 1: a creator and Amy and Dan sitting back and letting
Speaker 1: it happen and the writing and listening and like you know,
Speaker 1: and then you know, you know, not trying to dominate
Speaker 1: everything all the time, just letting us work it out,
Speaker 1: you know. So it was just great fun.
Speaker 2: I worked on Friends too, so and then sometimes if
Speaker 2: a joke didn't hit as funny as you, as the
Speaker 2: crowd and the audience thought it would, they would rewrite
Speaker 2: and the actors would learn it like that.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So Dan and Amy were there a lot. Did they
Speaker 2: are all the time? Probably? But did you ever have
Speaker 2: that with Lauren where you would have to have like
Speaker 2: you did the scene and then they're like, this could
Speaker 2: make it a little funnier or a little more serious
Speaker 2: and you'd have to rewrite and learn it that fast?
Speaker 1: Or was it always just so too often? I don't really.
Speaker 1: We would get rewrites very early in the morning in
Speaker 1: the makeup chair, like stick am. We get rewrites. Sometimes
Speaker 1: there were long rewrites, so that the whole scene was rewritten, reconceived,
Speaker 1: and they just handed to you restressed. When that happened
Speaker 1: first time, Yeah, like the first week of shooting at
Speaker 1: Warner Brothers episode one or episode two. You know, pilot
Speaker 1: was the first episode. Second episode was shot at Warner
Speaker 1: Brothers and Burbank and everything else after. Yeah, they throw
Speaker 1: a ten page scene at us at six am and
Speaker 1: our set call or no, no, I'm sorry, six forty am,
Speaker 1: and then our set call was seven o'clock. So we
Speaker 1: had twenty minutes to learn ten pages and we did it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because you guys were just that.
Speaker 1: Good, Because because we had to when we didn't have
Speaker 1: a choice, you know, so we just we just worked
Speaker 1: at work. It worked it and and then.
Speaker 2: I hear it's like a muscle, like if you learn
Speaker 2: the line and you just keep going, it's just like
Speaker 2: easier to like take in the information, retain it and
Speaker 2: then trying to forget it after that.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's in the writing and in the
Speaker 1: rhythm of the writing, and it always was very rhythmic
Speaker 1: and very musical and kind of easy to remember.
Speaker 2: Okay, back to the star. Yes, who did you sit by, Kelly?
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, Kelly, Kelly and Matt. Yeah, Kelly and Matt.
Speaker 1: So yeah, right there in the front row. I had
Speaker 1: a front row seat to it.
Speaker 2: All, I know, right next to all the like paparazzi,
Speaker 2: the camera people from like Extra, they were there. How
Speaker 2: did it feel to be reunited with Lauren?
Speaker 1: It was wonderful. It was wonderful. It's like no time
Speaker 1: had gone by. She didn't recognize me, you know, because
Speaker 1: they had a white beard and I had lost some hat.
Speaker 1: She said, I'm sorry, who are you?
Speaker 2: Did she really now?
Speaker 1: It was really nice to see her. It was really
Speaker 1: really nice to see her.
Speaker 2: Well. I was sitting in the back row, and it
Speaker 2: was fantastic because I didn't know who I was sitting by.
Speaker 2: It was agents and things like that through all her years,
Speaker 2: Lorange years, and I ended up sitting like right behind
Speaker 2: like someone else. I really admire Connie Britten.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Connie was right there.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my gosh, she's right in front
Speaker 2: of me.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: I love Friday Night Lights, I love the White Lotus.
Speaker 2: I love everything she's doing. She's even doing a new
Speaker 2: movie for Warner Brothers right now, The McMullan Brothers.
Speaker 1: She really Connie and I go way back.
Speaker 2: Really, Where did you guys meet New York City?
Speaker 1: Like twenty three years ago?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: At an upfront you know, Warner Brothers or CW whatever
Speaker 1: it was upfront, and she's just great. She's so much fun.
Speaker 2: She also wore a red pants suit, so I was like,
Speaker 2: that was nice way to go with the red.
Speaker 1: I know, but she's she's she's been good for the
Speaker 1: Lauren and Connie were roommates back in the day when
Speaker 1: they were first starting out in New York, I believe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's how they became friends. Yeah, that's why she was there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I got to know her, and you know,
Speaker 1: I love Connie. She's just she's great. She's just a
Speaker 1: great human, great person.
Speaker 2: So I sat next to like because I was in
Speaker 2: the back, but I was next to Lucy Davis, who
Speaker 2: is on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is another
Speaker 2: WB show, And I didn't know because I didn't watch
Speaker 2: that because it was on Netflix and I didn't I
Speaker 2: couldn't afford it at the time.
Speaker 1: Now I can.
Speaker 2: But I was like just chatting it up with her,
Speaker 2: and she's telling me that there's a piano bar around
Speaker 2: the corner from the Star because the stars in front
Speaker 2: of the w Hotel across the street from the piano
Speaker 2: or from the Pantagious, and there's a piano bar called
Speaker 2: tramp stamp grannies that we all have to go to,
Speaker 2: right we do?
Speaker 1: We have to go there? What's a tramp stamp granny?
Speaker 2: You a piano bar? If I get Lauren, you see
Speaker 2: Luke all the three l's.
Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, tramp stamp granny? What is going on in there?
Speaker 1: What's that? What is that? What's happening in there? You
Speaker 1: think that that title for a business scares people or
Speaker 1: draws them in? Tramp stamp Granny.
Speaker 2: I'm all about it it.
Speaker 1: Really, I set it up. Send a car, I'll be there,
Speaker 1: thanks very much.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, you have a song ready?
Speaker 1: Oh, you go in and do karaoke?
Speaker 2: You do piano bar stuff. So the piano player sings
Speaker 2: with you or for you? Are you sing?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 2: I think it's a good I think it could be
Speaker 2: a way to get fans all to come and join
Speaker 2: in on song together.
Speaker 1: Huh. I'll do I'll do something bluesy ooh, I'll do
Speaker 1: something bluesy scotty things, the blues. James, I have a
Speaker 1: question for you, yep. Why do you think Lauren and
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls continues to resonate so deeply with audiences?
Speaker 2: Oh? Well, the writing, of course, the acting of course,
Speaker 2: the casting of course, and then how this like it's
Speaker 2: like mac and cheese, Like I think I said this
Speaker 2: once before, like it's so good and you want to
Speaker 2: have it, especially in the fall. And then that's why
Speaker 2: everybody keeps rewatching in the fall, and that's why we
Speaker 2: get to do the Rewatch podcast now. So it's like
Speaker 2: it's just so like it like fills the soul.
Speaker 1: Okay, one big memory from the ceremony.
Speaker 2: My biggest memory, oh after party. So yeah, both you
Speaker 2: and I decided, okay, the after party was down the street,
Speaker 2: but we still had it was a block and a half, y'all,
Speaker 2: but we all had to take car to get there
Speaker 2: because the street so full of people that you couldn't
Speaker 2: buy easily. So we got cars, went down the street,
Speaker 2: went on top of this rooftop. I took a picture
Speaker 2: of Scottie, you could see it on my Instagram, James E. Pettitt,
Speaker 2: And you are with the Hollywood sign because that rooftop
Speaker 2: like restaurant looks over the whole uh Hollywood area. And
Speaker 2: we had white Russians And why is that, scott Why
Speaker 2: did we have white Russians? I don't know, because you're
Speaker 2: a part Russian.
Speaker 1: Oh that's right, that's right, that's right, that's so true.
Speaker 1: And I don't I don't really drink, no, but I
Speaker 1: figured this is an occasion.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you got a car like a driver, right.
Speaker 1: I don't have to worry about driving. And uh so
Speaker 1: I had we had one white Russian apiece.
Speaker 2: Yes, I thought that delicious.
Speaker 1: It was a lovely drink. And it was a lovely
Speaker 1: experience there and that in top restaurant, and we toasted Lauren. Yes,
Speaker 1: and uh I actually, you know I when Warner Brothers
Speaker 1: PR contacted me about attending the event, Yeah, I asked
Speaker 1: him if I could get up there and make a speech. Oh,
Speaker 1: I wanted to make a speech.
Speaker 2: That would have been great too, But I know.
Speaker 1: That's it, right, it was going to be those two, right,
Speaker 1: so I said it was, but I did. I did
Speaker 1: give her a little speech up at the rooftop bar
Speaker 1: with the white Russian. We toasted her with the right.
Speaker 2: You wanted to do a speech for her? Now you
Speaker 2: could on your show like you can pretend I'm her
Speaker 2: except my hair as in as gorgeous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a bit of a stretch. Uh, not that
Speaker 1: you're not beautiful. I'll pull up a pizzer, and I
Speaker 1: don't have a white Russian available to me now, so
Speaker 1: I'm going to pass on the speech right now. Let
Speaker 1: me work on it. I'll email it to you.
Speaker 2: I'm sure it would be just glowing.
Speaker 1: Oh oh man, I mean there would have been a
Speaker 1: dry eye in the house. Let me tell you, yeah,
Speaker 1: let me tell you this, you know, anyway, it was.
Speaker 1: It was really really a great time. The fans were
Speaker 1: so happy, they had so much fun.
Speaker 2: They did have a good time.
Speaker 1: You've never you've never seen so many Luke shirts in
Speaker 1: your life. Tell Warner Brothers Consumer Products. They're selling a
Speaker 1: lot of shirts. I'm sure they already know it. But
Speaker 1: there were literally like hundreds and maybe a couple thousand
Speaker 1: Luke shirts out there.
Speaker 2: You know, there were tons, all right.
Speaker 1: Listen, buddy, thank you, so thank you very much. You're
Speaker 1: like the busiest guy in the world, and he always
Speaker 1: give us your time. Really appreciate it. You have no
Speaker 1: idea how busy and how important and powerful this man is.
Speaker 1: Right here, right here, he might be the straw that
Speaker 1: stirs the drink over there. I'll tell you, the guy
Speaker 1: is amazing. He's mister everywhere, mister everything. My good friend,
Speaker 1: James Pettitt, thank you for your time and we look
Speaker 1: forward to seeing you again and again and again.
Speaker 2: My brother Okay, sending love all right, love your problem
Speaker 2: fans too.
Speaker 3: Bye everybody, Bye, everybody, and don't forget.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at I Am All In podcast
Speaker 1: and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com