Casting
On January 29, 2016, the day the revival was confirmed, it was reported that Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Sean Gunn, and Keiko Agena were set to return. Yanic Truesdale confirmed his return on Twitter later that day, as did David Sutcliffe. On February 1, 2016, Tanc Sade, who played Logan's friend, Finn, confirmed through his Twitter account that he would be joining the cast to reprise his role. On that same day, Aris Alvarado, who played Caesar, confirmed that he would be returning. Also on February 1, 2016, Mike Gandolfi confirmed that he was returning as Andrew in the series revival. In an interview with TVLine, Kelly Bishop confirmed that Rose Abdoo and Liza Weil would be returning for the revival. Matt Czuchry, Milo Ventimiglia, and Jared Padalecki would also return.
On February 10, 2016, Sally Struthers, Michael Winters, and Liz Torres, reprising the roles of Babette Dell, Taylor Doose, and Miss Patty LaCosta respectively, were announced as returning characters through detective work by a fan website. Carole King was also confirmed as returning to reprise her sometimes role of Sophie Bloom. Sutton Foster, from Palladino's Bunheads, was also cast. That same day, musician Grant Lee Phillips, who portrayed as a town troubadour, announced that he was reprising his role. On February 11, 2016, it was confirmed that Emily Kuroda would reprise her role as Mrs. Kim, Lane's mother, by TVLine. On the same day, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that David Sutcliffe, who played Christopher Hayden, would return for the revival as well. Danny Strong confirmed on February 11 that he, too, would be reprising his role as Doyle. Also on February 11, it was confirmed by Variety that Vanessa Marano, who played Luke's daughter, would be returning to the revival. On February 16, 2016, Sparky, the dog that played Lorelai's dog, Paul Anka, was confirmed as returning in the Netflix revival.
Babette's husband, Morey, played by Ted Rooney, was confirmed as returning on February 17. On February 19, 2016, Jackson Douglas, who played Sookie's husband, Jackson, confirmed that he would be returning to the cast to reprise his role, despite rumors that Melissa McCarthy would not be reprising her role. On February 21, 2016, Gregg Henry, who played Mitchum Huntzberger, confirmed in an interview that he would reprise his role in the series. On February 23, 2016, Alan Loayza, who played Colin McCrae, Logan's friend, confirmed that he would reprise his role via his Twitter. Nick Holmes, who played the smaller role of Robert Grimaldi, confirmed through his Twitter account that he was returning to the series on February 29, 2016.
On March 9, 2016, Biff Yeager, who played the character Tom, confirmed through his Twitter account that he would return for the Netflix revival. On March 15, 2016, Dakin Matthews, who played Chilton's headmaster, Hanlin Charleston, was confirmed as returning for his role. On March 25, 2016, John Cabrera, who played Brian Fuller in Lane's band, Hep Alien, confirmed that not only he but all four members of the band would be returning to the series, including other members Zack Van Gerbig, who was played by Todd Lowe, and Gil, who was played by rock musician Sebastian Bach. On March 29, 2016, Chris Eigeman, who played the character of Jason Stiles in season 4, announced on Twitter that he was returning in the revival. On April 7, 2016, Melissa McCarthy officially announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she would be returning for the revival.
