Milo Ventimiglia says Gilmore Girls fandom is still unbeatable

Milo Ventimiglia has been part of an unusually high volume of shows with dedicated fanbases: Gilmore Girls, Heroes and This Is Us (and now going for a fourth playing an alluring con man on The Company You Keep). Each are very different series appealing to very different audiences, but speaking with The A.V. Club, Ventimiglia doesn’t hesitate to crown one group as the ultimate stans.

“I think the fact that Gilmore Girls is being picked up by a new audience—it’s remarkable,” the actor says. “I think it shows how well the writing was architected, I think it shows how timeless the writing was, the show itself.”

Ventimiglia has another reason for appreciating Gilmore Girls’ impact on the fans. “The inspiration that it gives to young girls I think is wonderful,” he gushes. “I can’t tell you how many times I hear friends of mine who have daughters, as young as seven or eight, saying ‘Oh, my daughter wants to go to an Ivy League school because that’s what Rory did,’ or reading books because that’s what Rory did. I think that’s really, really wonderful.”

Ventimiglia says he sees himself in all his characters as he plays them, including Jess. However, he also cites outside inspiration for creating Rory’s (Alexis Bledel) bad boy boyfriend. “Jess was, you know, too smart for his own good, a bit rebellious, deeply, deeply connected to his emotions—reminded me of my best friend growing up, Aaron,” he shares. And while he doesn’t like to dwell on what-ifs like the canned Jess-centric spin-off, he does say, “Had the Jess show moved forward, I think people would have been pretty happy to see Jess stick around and explore him a little bit more.” Jess Mariano: A Year In The Life, anyone?