It's been a big year for the titular Gilmore Girls. Netflix's miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was a pop culture sensation earlier this year, and the mother/daughter duo has been booking all sorts of side jobs as well. Alexis Bledel is gaining positive critical reception for her role in The Handmaid's Tale, while Lauren Graham is set to appear in the mysterious new season of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. This is a pretty exciting departure for Graham, who had mostly worked in family friendly projects in her long career.
Lauren Graham recently spoke to TV Line about her unnamed role in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and revealed why it was both a challenge and a thrill. It was a welcomed but challenging change after filming A Year in the Life, saying:
It was the perfect answer to 'What do I do now?!' because this character is completely not me at all. I speak in a way that I don't speak ever. All you get is an outline and then you improvise around it. [Ted Danson told me] 'This is cable. You can really [let loose]. Think of the craziest thing possible.' And my brain so doesn't work that way.
Lauren Graham's statement, which comes to us from TV Line, has me extra excited for her upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Graham gets to whip out her potty mouth, and I'm ready for Lorelai to show off the many swear words we've always hoped she knows.
Aside from the fact that Lauren Graham will finally be able to utter some four letter words, she'll also be able to show off her improvisation skills. While Graham might not be known as a professional comedian, she's done plenty of on-screen improv. While much more structured than Curb Your Enthusiasm, she got to show off improvisational skills with NBC's family drama Parenthood. The dialogue was indeed scripted, but the cast was encouraged to improv and speak over each other, in order to more accurately portray family dynamics and real life conversations.
While the majority of Lauren Graham's career has been family friendly TV appearances, Curb won't actually be the first time she acted in a more adult-oriented project. She famously appeared opposite Billy Bob Thorton in Bad Santa as Sue the bartender. In the movie she drinks, curses, and has has quite a few sex scenes with Thorton's Willie- complete with some ridiculous Santa themed dirty talk. Unfortunately, Graham didn't reprise her role for Bad Santa 2. But considering its poor critical reception, she may have dodged a bullet.
Details regarding Curb Your Enthusiasm's long gesticulating new season are still very minimal, and we don't have any details about what type of role Lauren Graham will play. We'll be sure to update you on the new season as details become public.
