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Jared Padalecki’s Dean was an important part of Rory’s life on Gilmore Girls. Here’s why he ended up stepping away from the role.
First appearing in the Gilmore Girls pilot, Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) was a key figure in the early part of Rory Gilmore’s (Alexis Bledel) story. However, following Season 5, Dean didn’t appear again on the series, which had a lot to do with Padalecki’s career trajectory outside the show.
Here’s who Dean was and why Padalecki left Gilmore Girls.
Who Was Dean, Rory’s First Love on Gilmore Girls?
Originally from Chicago, Dean moves to Stars Hollow sometime prior to the start of the first season with May, Randy and Clara Forester. After arriving in Stars Hollow, Dean pursues Rory romantically, and the two begin dating. However, the relationship soon proves tumultuous, as Rory finds the relationship moving too fast for her. While they eventually get back together, the arrival of Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) in Stars Hollow drives them apart again, with Rory finding herself more similar to this new arrival than the more working class Dean. Later, Dean starts dating Lindsay Lister (Arielle Kebbel).
Starting in Season 4, Dean appears in Gilmore Girls less, but he does have one more key plotline, as he eventually proposes and marries Lindsay. However, Rory doesn’t react well to her ex-boyfriend getting married. At the end of Season 4, Dean cheats on Lindsay with Rory, which results in the latter losing her virginity. This act also drives a temporary wedge between Rory and her mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham). Lindsay soon finds out about the affair and divorces Dean, who starts dating Rory again. However, in Season 5, Episode 8, “The Party’s Over,” Dean and Rory break up once and for all when, after a Yale party, he realizes they no longer work together. In that same season, Dean appears one final time on the original Gilmore Girls series to warn Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) against dating Lorelai.
Although he never dates Rory again and disappears from the series pretty much entirely after their break-up, Dean briefly appears in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, the 2016 revival of the series. Dean reveals that, since his disappearance, he’s married a woman named Jenny and lives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They have three sons and are expecting a girl.
Why Jared Padalecki Left Gilmore Girls
In terms of the plot, Gilmore Girls had grown beyond Dean as a character, and much of Rory’s growing up process involved learning with whom she would and wouldn’t work. In the end, Dean no longer fit into Rory’s life, and his departure helped her discover more about herself as a person.
However, behind-the-scenes, Padalecki was cast as Sam Winchester on The WB/CW’s Supernatural. That being said, Padalecki’s role as Dean on Gilmore Girls almost cost him that iconic role, as creator Eric Kripke wanted Sam to be a smart character. In the end, though, Padalecki and his manager convinced Kripke the actor was right for the role, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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