Actor Jared Padalecki played Dean Forester, Rory’s first love interest on Gilmore Girls, but he only landed the part after the original actor from the show’s unaired pilot was recast. Debuting back in 2000 on what was then The WB network (later becoming The CW), Gilmore Girls focused on the lives of Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel). Gilmore Girls featured many different relationships for its mother-daughter duo, and Rory’s love life became a particular point of interest and debate amongst fans.
While such conversations usually center around whether Rory should’ve been with Jess or Logan in the end, her romantic journey on Gilmore Girls started with Dean, who appeared in the show’s very first episode. The new kid in Stars Hollow, he and Rory soon struck up a relationship, which ran across Gilmore Girls’ first few seasons, although not without some hiccups. While Rory, Lorelai, and Gilmore Girls fans grew to love Dean and Rory together, it might’ve been rather different with another actor in the part.
The Gilmore Girls pilot that made it to air wasn’t the original version, with a few changes made to the first one they shot. These include a different actress playing Sookie St. James, and another actor as Dean. The actor first in the role was Nathan Wetherington, who is perhaps best known to modern audiences for playing Mike Ardoin in True Detective season 3. Wetherington filmed the iconic first meeting between Dean and Rory in the original pilot, much as it appears in the aired version (but with Padalecki in the role), and told EW that they shot the scene around “45 times” to get it right.
Obviously it still wasn’t right enough, as when Gilmore Girls was ordered to series, Wetherington was informed that the role of Dean was being recast. The original version of Dean, while the same plot-wise, was supposed to be a bit more of an alternative type, something that was changed for the re-shot pilot, hence the role being recast. Interesting, another actor was also cast in the part of Dean before Padalecki, but details on who haven’t been revealed, though it’s likely another relatively unknown. For Wetherington, this was one of many what-could-have-been roles: the actor was also in the running to play Anakin Skywalker, but withdrew from the race as he became overwhelmed with things (something he’d later regret).
Things worked out well for Gilmore Girls, as it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Padalecki in the role of Dean (even though footage of Wetherington in the part does exist). At the same time, though, his success in the part eventually led to his own departure, as landing the main role on Supernatural led to a step back from Gilmore Girls: he dropped to being just a recurring character for seasons 4 and 5, and then didn’t appear at all in the show’s final two seasons. He did, however, briefly return for a cameo in Netflix’s Gilmore Girls revival, A Year in the Life.
Next: Why Gilmore Girls Season 7 Was So Bad
