Following my own two-part interview with David Sutcliffe (Christopher Hayden on Gilmore Girls), We Love Soaps also had an interview series with him. The third part, in particular, is all about Gilmore Girls.
David talks about how it was to work through some of Christopher’s more difficult scenes as well as giving us some insight into who he thought the character to be.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: In season seven of the show there was a climatic nonverbal scene between you and Scott Patterson. Christopher and Luke battled it in the Town Square in a very tragic, yet comedic scene. What was that like?
David Sutcliffe: It was fun. They wanted a real intense fight. They did cut it down much shorter than how it was originally written. It was quite a battle. It was like working on an action show. We had stunt coordinators in there, we were all padded up. Scott is a big strong guy, and an athlete. I’m a big strong guy, and an athlete, so we were having a ball with that. We wanted to get into it.
It was also interesting because Scott and I were friendly, but we knew what our roles were on the show. There was a subtle rivalry between us, not as people, but as our characters. The opportunity to play that out in the fight was satisfying for both of us. Ultimately it bonded us. I think Scott would say the same thing. I always say that fighting is intimacy. I’ve always said to women who ask me about wrestling that wrestling is intimacy. That is often the way men express their affection toward each other.
David also talks about any unfinished developments in Christopher’s character at the end of the series. And, of course, he addresses the question of a Gilmore Girls movie. Although he feels the question is up to Amy Sherman-Palladino, he’d be all in!
It would be fun. I love those girls, I love all the people on that show. When you’re in the middle of something, creating 22 episodes a year, and you are there 14-15 hours a day, it’s so difficult to have perspective on what it is you are accomplishing and how special it is. I remember to both Lauren and Alexis, “You’re going to someday look back on this and realize ‘holy shit, we really did something here.’ But it will take some time.” I think that feeling might be the thing that allows them the space to consider making a movie.