'Felt like a meat stick': Scott Patterson recalls feeling OBJECTIFIED during 'Gilmore Girls' Season 3
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Scott Patterson recalls not being happy with his portrayal on 'Gilmore Girls'. The Famous Mother and daughter duo show is known for its comedy and talking gibberish at an extremely fast pace. Scott Patterson, who is known as Luke Danes from the diner is one of the supporting leads throughout the seasons said on a podcast, how one of the scenes made him feel like "some kind of meat stick."
On a podcast 'I Am All In', Scott Patterson was discussing the episode, 'Keg! Max!' Scott Patterson further went on and called out one "objectifying" scene from the season 3 scene, in which Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) commented on the "nice shape" of his character Luke's 'behind'. The scene included where Luke was lying on his stomach on the ground helping Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) with repairs at their Dragonfly Inn. The women commented on his backside, and even after he told them to knock it off, Lorelai continued to make jokes about and compliment his butt. "Objectifying somebody's body part? Yeah, that was disturbing," said Patterson.
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"It is infuriating because you're being treated like an object. And it's disturbing and it's disgusting, and I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes," he added. "It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set. I couldn't wait for that day to be over." Patterson added that the scene made him feel like "some kind of meat stick."
The actor is aware that Hollywood regularly objectifies female characters and reminded listeners that it's not different with a man in the role. "It's as disgusting for women to objectify men as it for men to objectify women and it's as harmful." "Just because it was 2003 didn't mean it was okay. It's never okay. And I didn't feel comfortable doing it and it pissed me off," he continued. "I never said anything so I was angry at myself for never saying anything but, you know, I had this job and I didn't want to make waves and all that."
Patterson also added that he "became skeptical of his time on the show based on how the show's creators saw him and his character, as well as his potential to be nominated for an Emmy with such a body-forward plot." He urged listeners to imagine his situation, "Stand there in front of all those people filming and this is how the creator of that show sees that character. That you can humiliate him and take away his dignity that entire scene and that's okay," he said. "That's the one thing I hate about this episode is that scene." Still, Patterson added, "he understands why viewers laughed at the scene due to the comedic editing and strong acting by all in the scene."
'Gilmore Girls' originally aired from 2000 to 2007 on The WB. A reboot of the series, 'Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life' aired its four episodes on Netflix in 2016.