November 23, 2023 • 29 mins
What’s it like to be named The Most Hated Character on Gilmore Girls!?
Actually, The Most Hated Character on Television! What!!!????
Vanessa Marano knows the answer and she’s with Scott telling all!!
It’s time to dig deep in to the controversial April Nardini.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let's just do more. I am all in with Scott Patterson,
an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all in podcast, one
of them productions iHeart Radio. I'm gonna be a Columbus
Galaxy Con in Columbus, Ohio December second and third, twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
So everybody come on out. Let's do a Saul thing,
Let's do a Gilmore thing, and just celebrate. So that's
that's December two and three, Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Galaxy Con.
Hope to see everybody out there. Today's one on one
interview with none other than Vanessa Morano, who portrayed April
(00:58):
Nardini for thirteen episodes from two thousand and five to seven.
First appeared in season six, episode nine, Prodigal Daughter Returns.
Last appearance season seven, episode twenty Laurele Laurele. April discovered
she was the daughter of Luke Danes after testing the
DNA of three different men, which she only did a
DNA test to win a science fair. April and Luke
(01:21):
have grown to like each other at Luke's insistence, and
she has endeavored to introduce Luke to new things like
going to target stores. Let me tell you a little
bit about Vanessa. She started her acting career in the
theater when she was seven years old, performing in numerous
plays at Act and Agora Hills, California. She began her
professional career with several national commercials. She is most recognized
(01:46):
for her roles as April Mardini, the daughter of Luke,
in the highly popular show Gilmore Girls two thousand and
for the role of Francesca, the daughter of the Emmy
Award winning Lisa Koutro in the HBO original series The
Comeback She Starts and Scoundrels, playing a scheming school skipping
daughter of Virginia Madison. She had recurring roles on shows
(02:06):
including Dexter, Without a Trace, Trust Me. Her guest starring
critics include Parenthood, Medium, Ghost, Whisper, Past Life, Sixteen Under
Malcolm in the Middle of Grounded for Life. Her first
film was an animated hit, Finding Nemo two thousand and three,
followed by the independent films Easy two thousand and three,
The Click two thousand and eight, Stopping Power two thousand
(02:27):
Dear Lemon Lima two thousand and nine, and most recently,
The Secret Lives of Dorks two thousand and thirteen. I
give you the brilliant, the talented, the nessa Morano. How
you're doing? Nice to see ya. Tell us April. How
old were you when you got the role of April?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I was thirteen?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Ah, yes, right, I thought you were a little tad
older than the character, but not my well.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was a tad older than the carecharacter when I
auditioned for it. And then I believe they made her
closer to my age.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oh really, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
She was supposed to be like more I believe when
I auditioned, like closer to eleven. And then now that
one that one works.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Had you seen the show before you auditioned?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I was obsessed with the show before.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I Oh really okay, I was obsessed.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And I remember getting the breakdown and they didn't give
much information in the breakdown. They just said, quirky preteen
will have storyline with Luke is all they said. And
I was obsessed with the show. And I knew the
way you had left the last season was you proposing
to Laura. I so I was like, oh, they're going
(03:45):
to give him a daughter. She's going to break them up.
I'm so mad, But also I must be her, I
must be this person, and I was like, I went,
I went hard. I got glasses because it's quirky. And
that's what the entertainment industry means when they describe anything
as quirky. And here we are.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
So here you are. You're twelve years old, you get
to sell audition. Were you in LA with your mom
and your sister?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes, because I was raised, I was born.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Are you okay? So you were not out of town? Okay?
Were you going to school or were you homeschooled?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I was homeschool at that time, so I went to
like regular elementary school. I started professionally acting when I
was eight. I started doing children's theater before that. My
mom owned a theater when I was around six. Is
when I started doing theater professionally eight and so I
was working quite a bit, which was wonderful. It was
driving my mom crazy because she had a full time
(04:46):
job and she did not want to drive me on
the four or five. But say LEVI yeah, And so
I started being homeschooled in middle school just because the
auditions were a little bit crazy. Right. My sister, on
the other hand, never was homeschooled. She was like, I
don't want to not go to regular school. I was like,
I hate teenagers, so meeting homeschooled was a really good place.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
For what's your beef with teenagers?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Oh, come on, Scott, you've met teenagers.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh my goodness. So you kind of did realize the
impact of your character would have on the show at
the time before you when you were auditioning.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, I knew. I don't think I knew how how
hated she was going to be, all right, right, I
knew it was going to be an upsetting storyline, but like,
I don't know, Jess broke up Dean and Rory and
no one seemed to hate him.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So tell us about the blowback you got from fans
when you were out in public. I mean, tell us
about the most severe cases, good or bad.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean it wasn't good. It wasn't great. You know,
when I was out in public, I don't know that
anyone said anything too horrible. I think when you do
see a person in person and they're a child, you
have a little bit more of a filter. But people
would say like very veiled things like oh, well, you're
(06:14):
more okay than I thought you would be. That sort
of thing. But the online backlash. Oh yeah, crazy. And
you know, thankfully this was before Instagram and Twitter and
all that stuff, but there were still like blogs and
like television without pity and and really actually like publications
too that were reviewing TV shows that were just horrible
(06:38):
and like hating me, hating my performance, hating my voice,
hating the way I looked.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
It was just.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Awful, awful, awful, awful. However, I'm very grateful for it
because it made me at that time, especially because it
was my favorite show. So I was like, oh, well,
the creators of this show, Amy and Dan, who I
like value and like look up to, think I'm good
and keep using me, but the rest of the world doesn't,
(07:06):
So like what opinion matters more in this moment and
really kind of put into perspective like you can't please everybody,
and like, are you just proud of the work that
you're doing. Years and years later, when I ended up
on a show called Switched at Birth, which was a
show that I was a lead of, and I was
like one of the youngest people on that show, and
that was right when Twitter and Instagram were starting to happen.
(07:29):
I ended up being the person who was like, hey, guys,
don't look at the comments. It will drive you crazy,
like all of a sudden, an eighteen year old telling
people who are like in their late twenties being like, no,
trust me on this one. From personal experience.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
About yeah, so as.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Oh no, you know, about two years ago, I opened
up my phone, and you know there's news articles things
that are going on in the world. Two years ago
there was a pandemic. There was a BuzzFeed article that
came up that said most hated television characters ever. Oh no,
my face, my face, Scott. I beat Jeoffrey from Game
(08:10):
of Thrones.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh jeez man, which is.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
A little bit like a point of pride. Now now
it's like a badge.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Of the right, right right, right, right right, gosh. I
gotta you know, we just reviewed the episode. Yeah, well, yeah,
we just reviewed. I forget the name of the episode.
But you come into the diner with that helmet on,
and I gotta tell you of all the scenes that
I have done in that show up to this point,
(08:39):
those two scenes that we did together, the one at
the science fair and the one when I meet you,
two of my favorite scenes all to of my absolutely
my favorite scenes. And and I don't think. Here's what
I don't think fans understand is how difficult it was
for an adult with lots of experience off Broadway on
(08:59):
Broadway in the film and TV business to come onto
that set with lots of dialogue like you had. You
had chunks and chunks and chunks of dialogue and spit
them out that quickly with a weathered, experienced cast that
had no problem with any of that stuff. And we
(09:19):
would see those people just freeze and melt down and
they couldn't do it, and we, you know, of course
we'd help them, and they just couldn't relax sometimes and
you have to get them to relax. You came in
from the first rehearsal nailing it, nailing and nailing it,
no problem nailing it, and we were all like, WHOA,
what do we have here? You know, we never saw that.
(09:41):
We didn't see that. We saw people coming in like
you know, justifiably a little bit intimidated, right, and thought
that they were prepared. But then when they got up
to speed or what they thought was their speed, it
was like, you gotta go faster, you gotta go faster,
you gotta go faster. And they'd look at me, and
they go, I don't, No, I can't do it any faster.
What am I going to do in there, buddy? But
(10:06):
you just came in and crushed it, crushed it, And
the fans need to understand, they're listening right now, how
difficult that is to do. And the fact that you
were thirteen when you came in and did it.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And just I don't know that. I've never been that
impressed with anyone in my entire career. And I don't
think you deserve to get all this backlash, and I
think it should stop. And it does. Listen, doesn't matter
how strong a person you are, how much you bat
it away, it's still going to affect somebody negative. So
let's be kind out there, people. Vanessa is an incredibly giving, generous, loving,
(10:48):
talented person. So let's just get off her back, okay,
and let's just let's let's look at how gifted she
is and how hard working she is, and she she
achieved her goals. And you know, for me, you're an
inspiration and I think you should be an inspiration for
all people.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I don't want to be on this podcast all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Let's go, let's go. I don't I never liked the backlash.
I never I never bought into it. I couldn't stand it.
I just thought it was so mean.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
It was I mean, look at the time, it was
very mean, I will say like nowadays. I mean, you know,
I just did a fan fest a little while ago,
Oh did you? Yeah, I did, And it was really
nice because to see everybody in person see what this
show means to everybody. And I mean, that's why the
backlash happened, is because it was so beloved, and your
(11:42):
two characters together were so beloved that all these years later,
it was really really nice to connect with people in
person because you know, you know what the show means
to people, and to be actually a part of that
and get to cannect with people, it definitely takes a
lot of that that meanness away, or that anger way
(12:05):
it's oftentimes rooted to just sort of like a lack
of control, right because you're watching something that you want
to see go a certain way, not go that way. Also,
I think now, especially where we are as a society,
even though it's gotten so much worse with social media,
the everyday person experiences that backup socially media. It's not
(12:27):
just performers, and I actually think there's a lot more
grace right now and a lot more honesty about talking
about Hey, we should be very careful about how we
speak about people online, because it's a lot easier behind
a screen to say something horrible than it is to
say somebody's face. And that's things like anybody I've met
in person, especially now, Like in person now it's been
(12:51):
nothing but lovely and supportive, which is crazy because it
was not that way back in the day at all.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Right, people need to keep in mind that the Internet
is permanent. You write something, it stays. So anyway, let's
shift gears a little bit. Tell us about the first
day on set. What was that like for you? What
do you remember about it? Your first day.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I had a disposable camera and I was running around
just taking pictures of stars, hollow, not like just the set.
I was a nerd. I was just like just using
a set, like literally like the gazebo, Taylor Docie's Market,
like all of that was like so amazing for me,
But it was really really this is the first day
was the scene where I pull your hair right right,
(13:38):
right right, which I believe you said to me, like
you could go a little softer. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Did you grow did you grow in there?
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I was like, if we're doing this, we're doing this now.
But it was I mean, it was so great to
finally like, you know, you go through so many auditions
and doing the thing and doing the thing, and to
actually be able to do it and and Gilmore Girls
was so much like a play with all the actual
you know, steady cam and moving around blocking and it
(14:08):
was crazy. But I mean, I was just I was
in heaven. I Amy directed the episode that was the
listening in the entire world. Getting to meet you was
so cool and and what we had a lot of fun.
I really really enjoyed our scenes because the ping ponging
and being able to play off of each other I
think was it was so it was it was you
(14:29):
don't get a lot of opportunities like that as an adult. Nevertheless,
as a child. Right like up to that point, I
had done, Like I said, I worked quite a bit,
and I've done some substantial things, but a lot of
it was just like daughter shows up and is like, Daddy,
don't understand me, and then like walks to the other room.
(14:51):
There was no like monologue about like wanting to crush
a kid at a science fair and when the pasta
like that.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you had some real I mean it was really
just the great You had so many great lines. Oh
you had the nice chunks. Tell us about that that
head piece, that helmet was that? Did you? Was it complicated?
(15:20):
You know you had to ride up on your bike,
come into the diner, talk to me, then take that
thing off. I mean did you have to rehearse that?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah? And it didn't go well anytime. I was not
a great bike rider. I'm still not a great bike
rider to this day. And maybe we could all, you know,
directly trace it back to Gilmore Girls. One of the
things I had done prior to Gilmore Girls when I
was eleven was a film that Chris Read actually directed,
which was really cool to be a part of. And
(15:48):
the character that I played gets into an accident and
develops the same injury that that Christen, So she becomes
a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. And so I
had just done a bunch of stuff with paralysis and
like having to wear something called a halo, which is
where they like screw it into your head and like
you know, put it on. I had to do multiple
(16:09):
scenes like that. So when I showed up on Gilmour
Girls and they showed me that helmet, it was literally
designed the way a halo is for someone who So
I was like, oh, actually know how to get into this,
Like this is crazy, and they were like, perfect, wonderful.
Now you're going to ride a bike with it on
top of you. I was like, excuse me. And then
(16:32):
it was the taking it off in the scene that
was the hardest part because it was not the easiest
contraption to take off. But yeah, years and years later,
if they asked me to ride a bike on set,
I'm like, this isn't gonna go. Well, guys, I'm not
good at hitting the marks. I only think about this
heavy object that was on my head.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Did you have to adapt to the fast pace of
the dialogue or did you just kind of cut really
remember you got it?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I kind of got it. And again, I think that
came from watching it so much. I really like at
that time, they were doing reruns on ABC Family every
day at five, so like me and my cousin would
watch it like at five like every day, so I
knew the pace of the show, like really really really well,
which I think ultimately is what helped me get the
(17:23):
part is it was so ingrained in me and so
well researched. I guess it's the only way you could
describe it. Yeah, I never had I was one of
the only people they never had to tell to go faster.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Right, How many auditions did you have.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
A total of three?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Three auditions?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Great? Yeah, so there was just like regular casting and
then like two with Amy and Dan.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Oh so you did two with Amy and Dan? What
was that like?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
We'll tell you it was very cool. I mean obviously
like Amy and Dan are such personalities, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
But very warm and very welcoming.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You know. Here's thing like again, it's such a different
experience as a thirteen year old girl who's obsessed with
the show, right, because you're just like I worship you,
like I don't know how else to say it. And
I believe they had changed the dialogue in between the
two meetings, and so I did it the second time
and they were like, oh, the lines are different. And
(18:20):
I think what helped me get it is I went okay, cool,
and I looked at it and then I was just
able to do it right, which again that's like theater training, right,
that's h.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
That's a skill set exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah. But they were always really, really really great to me.
And I remember I was such a musical theater nerd,
and I would talk to Dan all the time about
musical theater. And then when I did the revival fir Sing,
Dan said to me, he goes, Hamilton. Are we talking
about Hamilton all day today?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
What did you think about your character, April? What did
you think of her? Oh?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I loved her. I thought she was such a cool
character because she was so so herself at such a
young age, and so weirdly obsessive with certain things, you
know what I mean, Like when I had that scene
at the diner with you where I decided to fill
the salt and pepper shakers because I want to like
(19:20):
test the different quantities. Or I'm not a science person,
so I barely understood what April was always excited about.
But I love that she was excited about those things.
And I think Gilmore Girls as a whole was a
show for the smart girls, is the only way I
could say it. Like it made Even though April wasn't
quote unquote cool, she was never under confident in the
(19:44):
fact that she was so smart or she was so
nerdy that she liked you know, science, same thing with Rory,
I always say, you know, it was one of the
only shows where like the decision of which college she
went to was just as important as like which boy
she was dating. And so that was some that I
loved so much about the show, and getting to play
a character like that that wasn't wasn't ashamed of herself,
(20:08):
which you know, so many thirteen year old girls you
go through that uncomfortableness about yourself and figuring it out.
But to see someone who was just so like confident
in their self at such a young age and did
not care that she was really really strange, you know
what I mean. She was a little little bit of
an oddball. But I loved that about her. And as
(20:28):
an actor, that's more fun to play obvious.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
So you must have got absolutely you must have gotten
some fans that were inspired by you.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Now now for sure, now there's a lot of young
women now who are like I was the science girl.
Like I loved that there was a science girl represent
on television. Like I said, back in the day, not
so much.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
No, no, no, no, but well, look good so you're getting
some positive feedback from this and and and proving to
be uh an inspiration to people. That's that's great. Do
you have a Do you have a favorite episode.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Of the whole series or of what I of the
whole series? Oh that's hard, man, that's hard.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
All right, Let's go from what you shot?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Okay, from what? From what what I shot. I feel
like that first episode because there was so much writing
on it, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Like?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I did also really like our our Bus episode, but
that one wasn't as fun to shoot because we were
in a bus and I had to sing the chemical
elements over and over and over again for what felt
like six hours.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Uh right, right, right, right right right?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So yeah, that those two ring in my ear. And
then I do have my all time. My all time
is moving Rory into Yale with the mattress going back
and forth. That's a great episode.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Okay, all right, cool? So what are you working on now?
What have you been doing?
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Well? I've been on strike, but I actually my mom,
my sister and myself started moving into producing, which was
really really cool. He produced a film that my sister
and I started called Saving Zoe that came out in
twenty eighteen. In twenty twenty one, we produced a film
for Netflix that just my sister starred in, she My
(22:20):
Mom Myself, and I produced as well, called The Royal Treatment. Yeah.
That was really really great. So we've been growing a
production company, getting more into that. I've been transitioning into directing.
I directed a music video for my sister that's on
YouTube called some Day.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And my.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Favorite directors well, I mean like Nancy Myers and Nora E.
F Ron like love Love Love, obsessed with Obsessed. I
also love Mark Webb who did Five Hundred Days of
Summer and you did the pilot episode A crazy ex Girlfriend. Like,
I think he's such a cool visionary and everything that
you see of him is very very clearly him. Yeah.
I think they're all fantastic. But that's when. Yeah, what
(23:01):
I've been working on, I mean also acting as well.
I did a Christmas movie for Discovery Plus a little
while ago called One Delicious Christmas and Bobby Flay play
the Food Critic, and that was hilarious. Fayre had just
come out and I was just like, so, like, do
you guys really call each other chef? Like do you
really like call every much Ja, Yes, why is this
(23:24):
so interesting to you? And I was like, h obviously
I've been candid. I have nothing else to talk about,
so I want to talk about this.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Right right, right, right right. Okay, So we're going to
play a little game now called rapid fire. Doesn't require
you to answer these quickly. However, we just call it
rapid fire. We don't even know why. Ready, here we go.
(23:53):
How do you like your coffee? Assuming you're a coffee drinker.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I am a coffee drinker. I use to like it
like with milk and sugar. I've now transitioned into black
coffee as I've gotten older.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Are you team Logan Team Jess or Team Dean Team Jess?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Logan? Get out of here?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I say, what really? Why tell us tell us your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
OI, old rich boy, Old rich boy didn't.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Think didn't you think he was the smartest one of
the bunch?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Oh that's hard? Uh? He Jess and him are both
very smart. Jess is hard because like, Jess was a
teenager when we met him and not like turning into
an adult right then when Jess comes back, I would
say they're comparatively smart.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Who is your favorite Gilmore Girls couple? Luke and Lorelei
or Emily and Richard.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Oh, Emily and Richard. I love Emily and Richard.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Would you rather work with Michelle or Kirk?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, I think I did work with Kirk. I'm trying
to think here, Well, Kirk would be a better character
wise Michelle. That's hard. It seems like Michelle's been able
to keep the same job, so there's one would argue
he's a better worker by that logic, But from what
you see on TV, Kirk seeds nicer.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Mm hm. Would you rather hang out with Paris or Lane?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I mean in reality Lane, in television lay on Paris
because she has some of the best scenes and the
most entertaining moments ever. So like from if you're like,
if I was like trailing and like writing a book,
I would want to be following Paris because I feel
like the material you would get out of that would
be better.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Okay, Harvard or Yale?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I mean Harvard, why if I'm going to go into
the thing of the show, I don't like that she
kept inside the same legacy of the family story point wise,
totally understand it gave more more room and more drama,
but ultimately I think the reason she ended up dropping
(26:10):
out of Yale was because she put the pressure on
herself to do things exactly like how her grandfather did,
whereas Harvard would have been her own person further away
from stars Hollow, which I think probably would have been
good for her because one could argue she had a
codependent relationship with her mother.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Mm hmmm, mm hmmm. All right, Harvard, or drop out
and live in a poolhouse Harvard.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
No one approves of the living in the poolhouse gap year.
I support I support the gap year. I do not
like that she just wasn't doing anything.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Gotcha? Would you rather attend a dar event with Emily
or a town meeting with Taylor?
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Oh, town meeting with Taylor?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Uh huh? Gilmore. Girl's character that you would want as
a roommate?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
A roommate ooh oh, that's tough. Who would be a
good roommate? Probably Suki?
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Suki is a roommate. Yeah, a mother of two children.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Well, I'm assuming she's going through a divorce at that point.
If she's getting.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
She's moving it. So you want Suki divorced with children.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
I want Suki fighting for custody.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Gotcha? Okay, that might be the best answer we've ever
had on rapid fire something in your life. You are
all in.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
On, all in on I mean the Real Housewives. I'm
all in on the Real.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Housewives, gotcha?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Gotcha, Vanessa Morano, thank you so much for your time.
It was a pleasure catching up with you, and I
hope we can do this again. It's not too busy.
We'd love to have you back on. I think I
can speak for the group. You're always welcome here, and
good luck with everything and your producing career and your
(28:07):
directing career, and I know you're going to be a
big deal and I'm going to need probably a couple
of parts, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Done, there we go if I'm in the position.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Best to your mom, best to your sister. Okay, good
seeing you all right, Bye bye, everybody, don't again. Follow
(28:54):
us on Instagram at I Am All In Podcast and
email us at guilt more at iHeartRadio dot com.
I am all in.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let's just do more. I am all in with Scott Patterson,
an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all in podcast, one
of them productions iHeart Radio. I'm gonna be a Columbus
Galaxy Con in Columbus, Ohio December second and third, twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
So everybody come on out. Let's do a Saul thing,
Let's do a Gilmore thing, and just celebrate. So that's
that's December two and three, Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Galaxy Con.
Hope to see everybody out there. Today's one on one
interview with none other than Vanessa Morano, who portrayed April
(00:58):
Nardini for thirteen episodes from two thousand and five to seven.
First appeared in season six, episode nine, Prodigal Daughter Returns.
Last appearance season seven, episode twenty Laurele Laurele. April discovered
she was the daughter of Luke Danes after testing the
DNA of three different men, which she only did a
DNA test to win a science fair. April and Luke
(01:21):
have grown to like each other at Luke's insistence, and
she has endeavored to introduce Luke to new things like
going to target stores. Let me tell you a little
bit about Vanessa. She started her acting career in the
theater when she was seven years old, performing in numerous
plays at Act and Agora Hills, California. She began her
professional career with several national commercials. She is most recognized
(01:46):
for her roles as April Mardini, the daughter of Luke,
in the highly popular show Gilmore Girls two thousand and
for the role of Francesca, the daughter of the Emmy
Award winning Lisa Koutro in the HBO original series The
Comeback She Starts and Scoundrels, playing a scheming school skipping
daughter of Virginia Madison. She had recurring roles on shows
(02:06):
including Dexter, Without a Trace, Trust Me. Her guest starring
critics include Parenthood, Medium, Ghost, Whisper, Past Life, Sixteen Under
Malcolm in the Middle of Grounded for Life. Her first
film was an animated hit, Finding Nemo two thousand and three,
followed by the independent films Easy two thousand and three,
The Click two thousand and eight, Stopping Power two thousand
(02:27):
Dear Lemon Lima two thousand and nine, and most recently,
The Secret Lives of Dorks two thousand and thirteen. I
give you the brilliant, the talented, the nessa Morano. How
you're doing? Nice to see ya. Tell us April. How
old were you when you got the role of April?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I was thirteen?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Ah, yes, right, I thought you were a little tad
older than the character, but not my well.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was a tad older than the carecharacter when I
auditioned for it. And then I believe they made her
closer to my age.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oh really, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
She was supposed to be like more I believe when
I auditioned, like closer to eleven. And then now that
one that one works.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Had you seen the show before you auditioned?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I was obsessed with the show before.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I Oh really okay, I was obsessed.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And I remember getting the breakdown and they didn't give
much information in the breakdown. They just said, quirky preteen
will have storyline with Luke is all they said. And
I was obsessed with the show. And I knew the
way you had left the last season was you proposing
to Laura. I so I was like, oh, they're going
(03:45):
to give him a daughter. She's going to break them up.
I'm so mad, But also I must be her, I
must be this person, and I was like, I went,
I went hard. I got glasses because it's quirky. And
that's what the entertainment industry means when they describe anything
as quirky. And here we are.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
So here you are. You're twelve years old, you get
to sell audition. Were you in LA with your mom
and your sister?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes, because I was raised, I was born.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Are you okay? So you were not out of town? Okay?
Were you going to school or were you homeschooled?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I was homeschool at that time, so I went to
like regular elementary school. I started professionally acting when I
was eight. I started doing children's theater before that. My
mom owned a theater when I was around six. Is
when I started doing theater professionally eight and so I
was working quite a bit, which was wonderful. It was
driving my mom crazy because she had a full time
(04:46):
job and she did not want to drive me on
the four or five. But say LEVI yeah, And so
I started being homeschooled in middle school just because the
auditions were a little bit crazy. Right. My sister, on
the other hand, never was homeschooled. She was like, I
don't want to not go to regular school. I was like,
I hate teenagers, so meeting homeschooled was a really good place.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
For what's your beef with teenagers?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Oh, come on, Scott, you've met teenagers.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh my goodness. So you kind of did realize the
impact of your character would have on the show at
the time before you when you were auditioning.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, I knew. I don't think I knew how how
hated she was going to be, all right, right, I
knew it was going to be an upsetting storyline, but like,
I don't know, Jess broke up Dean and Rory and
no one seemed to hate him.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So tell us about the blowback you got from fans
when you were out in public. I mean, tell us
about the most severe cases, good or bad.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean it wasn't good. It wasn't great. You know,
when I was out in public, I don't know that
anyone said anything too horrible. I think when you do
see a person in person and they're a child, you
have a little bit more of a filter. But people
would say like very veiled things like oh, well, you're
(06:14):
more okay than I thought you would be. That sort
of thing. But the online backlash. Oh yeah, crazy. And
you know, thankfully this was before Instagram and Twitter and
all that stuff, but there were still like blogs and
like television without pity and and really actually like publications
too that were reviewing TV shows that were just horrible
(06:38):
and like hating me, hating my performance, hating my voice,
hating the way I looked.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
It was just.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Awful, awful, awful, awful. However, I'm very grateful for it
because it made me at that time, especially because it
was my favorite show. So I was like, oh, well,
the creators of this show, Amy and Dan, who I
like value and like look up to, think I'm good
and keep using me, but the rest of the world doesn't,
(07:06):
So like what opinion matters more in this moment and
really kind of put into perspective like you can't please everybody,
and like, are you just proud of the work that
you're doing. Years and years later, when I ended up
on a show called Switched at Birth, which was a
show that I was a lead of, and I was
like one of the youngest people on that show, and
that was right when Twitter and Instagram were starting to happen.
(07:29):
I ended up being the person who was like, hey, guys,
don't look at the comments. It will drive you crazy,
like all of a sudden, an eighteen year old telling
people who are like in their late twenties being like, no,
trust me on this one. From personal experience.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
About yeah, so as.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Oh no, you know, about two years ago, I opened
up my phone, and you know there's news articles things
that are going on in the world. Two years ago
there was a pandemic. There was a BuzzFeed article that
came up that said most hated television characters ever. Oh no,
my face, my face, Scott. I beat Jeoffrey from Game
(08:10):
of Thrones.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Oh jeez man, which is.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
A little bit like a point of pride. Now now
it's like a badge.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Of the right, right right, right, right right, gosh. I
gotta you know, we just reviewed the episode. Yeah, well, yeah,
we just reviewed. I forget the name of the episode.
But you come into the diner with that helmet on,
and I gotta tell you of all the scenes that
I have done in that show up to this point,
(08:39):
those two scenes that we did together, the one at
the science fair and the one when I meet you,
two of my favorite scenes all to of my absolutely
my favorite scenes. And and I don't think. Here's what
I don't think fans understand is how difficult it was
for an adult with lots of experience off Broadway on
(08:59):
Broadway in the film and TV business to come onto
that set with lots of dialogue like you had. You
had chunks and chunks and chunks of dialogue and spit
them out that quickly with a weathered, experienced cast that
had no problem with any of that stuff. And we
(09:19):
would see those people just freeze and melt down and
they couldn't do it, and we, you know, of course
we'd help them, and they just couldn't relax sometimes and
you have to get them to relax. You came in
from the first rehearsal nailing it, nailing and nailing it,
no problem nailing it, and we were all like, WHOA,
what do we have here? You know, we never saw that.
(09:41):
We didn't see that. We saw people coming in like
you know, justifiably a little bit intimidated, right, and thought
that they were prepared. But then when they got up
to speed or what they thought was their speed, it
was like, you gotta go faster, you gotta go faster,
you gotta go faster. And they'd look at me, and
they go, I don't, No, I can't do it any faster.
What am I going to do in there, buddy? But
(10:06):
you just came in and crushed it, crushed it, And
the fans need to understand, they're listening right now, how
difficult that is to do. And the fact that you
were thirteen when you came in and did it.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And just I don't know that. I've never been that
impressed with anyone in my entire career. And I don't
think you deserve to get all this backlash, and I
think it should stop. And it does. Listen, doesn't matter
how strong a person you are, how much you bat
it away, it's still going to affect somebody negative. So
let's be kind out there, people. Vanessa is an incredibly giving, generous, loving,
(10:48):
talented person. So let's just get off her back, okay,
and let's just let's let's look at how gifted she
is and how hard working she is, and she she
achieved her goals. And you know, for me, you're an
inspiration and I think you should be an inspiration for
all people.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I don't want to be on this podcast all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Let's go, let's go. I don't I never liked the backlash.
I never I never bought into it. I couldn't stand it.
I just thought it was so mean.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
It was I mean, look at the time, it was
very mean, I will say like nowadays. I mean, you know,
I just did a fan fest a little while ago,
Oh did you? Yeah, I did, And it was really
nice because to see everybody in person see what this
show means to everybody. And I mean, that's why the
backlash happened, is because it was so beloved, and your
(11:42):
two characters together were so beloved that all these years later,
it was really really nice to connect with people in
person because you know, you know what the show means
to people, and to be actually a part of that
and get to cannect with people, it definitely takes a
lot of that that meanness away, or that anger way
(12:05):
it's oftentimes rooted to just sort of like a lack
of control, right because you're watching something that you want
to see go a certain way, not go that way. Also,
I think now, especially where we are as a society,
even though it's gotten so much worse with social media,
the everyday person experiences that backup socially media. It's not
(12:27):
just performers, and I actually think there's a lot more
grace right now and a lot more honesty about talking
about Hey, we should be very careful about how we
speak about people online, because it's a lot easier behind
a screen to say something horrible than it is to
say somebody's face. And that's things like anybody I've met
in person, especially now, Like in person now it's been
(12:51):
nothing but lovely and supportive, which is crazy because it
was not that way back in the day at all.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Right, people need to keep in mind that the Internet
is permanent. You write something, it stays. So anyway, let's
shift gears a little bit. Tell us about the first
day on set. What was that like for you? What
do you remember about it? Your first day.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I had a disposable camera and I was running around
just taking pictures of stars, hollow, not like just the set.
I was a nerd. I was just like just using
a set, like literally like the gazebo, Taylor Docie's Market,
like all of that was like so amazing for me,
But it was really really this is the first day
was the scene where I pull your hair right right,
(13:38):
right right, which I believe you said to me, like
you could go a little softer. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Did you grow did you grow in there?
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I was like, if we're doing this, we're doing this now.
But it was I mean, it was so great to
finally like, you know, you go through so many auditions
and doing the thing and doing the thing, and to
actually be able to do it and and Gilmore Girls
was so much like a play with all the actual
you know, steady cam and moving around blocking and it
(14:08):
was crazy. But I mean, I was just I was
in heaven. I Amy directed the episode that was the
listening in the entire world. Getting to meet you was
so cool and and what we had a lot of fun.
I really really enjoyed our scenes because the ping ponging
and being able to play off of each other I
think was it was so it was it was you
(14:29):
don't get a lot of opportunities like that as an adult. Nevertheless,
as a child. Right like up to that point, I
had done, Like I said, I worked quite a bit,
and I've done some substantial things, but a lot of
it was just like daughter shows up and is like, Daddy,
don't understand me, and then like walks to the other room.
(14:51):
There was no like monologue about like wanting to crush
a kid at a science fair and when the pasta
like that.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you had some real I mean it was really
just the great You had so many great lines. Oh
you had the nice chunks. Tell us about that that
head piece, that helmet was that? Did you? Was it complicated?
(15:20):
You know you had to ride up on your bike,
come into the diner, talk to me, then take that
thing off. I mean did you have to rehearse that?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah? And it didn't go well anytime. I was not
a great bike rider. I'm still not a great bike
rider to this day. And maybe we could all, you know,
directly trace it back to Gilmore Girls. One of the
things I had done prior to Gilmore Girls when I
was eleven was a film that Chris Read actually directed,
which was really cool to be a part of. And
(15:48):
the character that I played gets into an accident and
develops the same injury that that Christen, So she becomes
a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. And so I
had just done a bunch of stuff with paralysis and
like having to wear something called a halo, which is
where they like screw it into your head and like
you know, put it on. I had to do multiple
(16:09):
scenes like that. So when I showed up on Gilmour
Girls and they showed me that helmet, it was literally
designed the way a halo is for someone who So
I was like, oh, actually know how to get into this,
Like this is crazy, and they were like, perfect, wonderful.
Now you're going to ride a bike with it on
top of you. I was like, excuse me. And then
(16:32):
it was the taking it off in the scene that
was the hardest part because it was not the easiest
contraption to take off. But yeah, years and years later,
if they asked me to ride a bike on set,
I'm like, this isn't gonna go. Well, guys, I'm not
good at hitting the marks. I only think about this
heavy object that was on my head.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Did you have to adapt to the fast pace of
the dialogue or did you just kind of cut really
remember you got it?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I kind of got it. And again, I think that
came from watching it so much. I really like at
that time, they were doing reruns on ABC Family every
day at five, so like me and my cousin would
watch it like at five like every day, so I
knew the pace of the show, like really really really well,
which I think ultimately is what helped me get the
(17:23):
part is it was so ingrained in me and so
well researched. I guess it's the only way you could
describe it. Yeah, I never had I was one of
the only people they never had to tell to go faster.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Right, How many auditions did you have.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
A total of three?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Three auditions?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Great? Yeah, so there was just like regular casting and
then like two with Amy and Dan.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Oh so you did two with Amy and Dan? What
was that like?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
We'll tell you it was very cool. I mean obviously
like Amy and Dan are such personalities, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
But very warm and very welcoming.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You know. Here's thing like again, it's such a different
experience as a thirteen year old girl who's obsessed with
the show, right, because you're just like I worship you,
like I don't know how else to say it. And
I believe they had changed the dialogue in between the
two meetings, and so I did it the second time
and they were like, oh, the lines are different. And
(18:20):
I think what helped me get it is I went okay, cool,
and I looked at it and then I was just
able to do it right, which again that's like theater training, right,
that's h.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
That's a skill set exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah. But they were always really, really really great to me.
And I remember I was such a musical theater nerd,
and I would talk to Dan all the time about
musical theater. And then when I did the revival fir Sing,
Dan said to me, he goes, Hamilton. Are we talking
about Hamilton all day today?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
What did you think about your character, April? What did
you think of her? Oh?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I loved her. I thought she was such a cool
character because she was so so herself at such a
young age, and so weirdly obsessive with certain things, you
know what I mean, Like when I had that scene
at the diner with you where I decided to fill
the salt and pepper shakers because I want to like
(19:20):
test the different quantities. Or I'm not a science person,
so I barely understood what April was always excited about.
But I love that she was excited about those things.
And I think Gilmore Girls as a whole was a
show for the smart girls, is the only way I
could say it. Like it made Even though April wasn't
quote unquote cool, she was never under confident in the
(19:44):
fact that she was so smart or she was so
nerdy that she liked you know, science, same thing with Rory,
I always say, you know, it was one of the
only shows where like the decision of which college she
went to was just as important as like which boy
she was dating. And so that was some that I
loved so much about the show, and getting to play
a character like that that wasn't wasn't ashamed of herself,
(20:08):
which you know, so many thirteen year old girls you
go through that uncomfortableness about yourself and figuring it out.
But to see someone who was just so like confident
in their self at such a young age and did
not care that she was really really strange, you know
what I mean. She was a little little bit of
an oddball. But I loved that about her. And as
(20:28):
an actor, that's more fun to play obvious.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
So you must have got absolutely you must have gotten
some fans that were inspired by you.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Now now for sure, now there's a lot of young
women now who are like I was the science girl.
Like I loved that there was a science girl represent
on television. Like I said, back in the day, not
so much.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
No, no, no, no, but well, look good so you're getting
some positive feedback from this and and and proving to
be uh an inspiration to people. That's that's great. Do
you have a Do you have a favorite episode.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Of the whole series or of what I of the
whole series? Oh that's hard, man, that's hard.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
All right, Let's go from what you shot?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Okay, from what? From what what I shot. I feel
like that first episode because there was so much writing
on it, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Like?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I did also really like our our Bus episode, but
that one wasn't as fun to shoot because we were
in a bus and I had to sing the chemical
elements over and over and over again for what felt
like six hours.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Uh right, right, right, right right right?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So yeah, that those two ring in my ear. And
then I do have my all time. My all time
is moving Rory into Yale with the mattress going back
and forth. That's a great episode.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Okay, all right, cool? So what are you working on now?
What have you been doing?
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Well? I've been on strike, but I actually my mom,
my sister and myself started moving into producing, which was
really really cool. He produced a film that my sister
and I started called Saving Zoe that came out in
twenty eighteen. In twenty twenty one, we produced a film
for Netflix that just my sister starred in, she My
(22:20):
Mom Myself, and I produced as well, called The Royal Treatment. Yeah.
That was really really great. So we've been growing a
production company, getting more into that. I've been transitioning into directing.
I directed a music video for my sister that's on
YouTube called some Day.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And my.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Favorite directors well, I mean like Nancy Myers and Nora E.
F Ron like love Love Love, obsessed with Obsessed. I
also love Mark Webb who did Five Hundred Days of
Summer and you did the pilot episode A crazy ex Girlfriend. Like,
I think he's such a cool visionary and everything that
you see of him is very very clearly him. Yeah.
I think they're all fantastic. But that's when. Yeah, what
(23:01):
I've been working on, I mean also acting as well.
I did a Christmas movie for Discovery Plus a little
while ago called One Delicious Christmas and Bobby Flay play
the Food Critic, and that was hilarious. Fayre had just
come out and I was just like, so, like, do
you guys really call each other chef? Like do you
really like call every much Ja, Yes, why is this
(23:24):
so interesting to you? And I was like, h obviously
I've been candid. I have nothing else to talk about,
so I want to talk about this.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Right right, right, right right. Okay, So we're going to
play a little game now called rapid fire. Doesn't require
you to answer these quickly. However, we just call it
rapid fire. We don't even know why. Ready, here we go.
(23:53):
How do you like your coffee? Assuming you're a coffee drinker.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I am a coffee drinker. I use to like it
like with milk and sugar. I've now transitioned into black
coffee as I've gotten older.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Are you team Logan Team Jess or Team Dean Team Jess?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Logan? Get out of here?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I say, what really? Why tell us tell us your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
OI, old rich boy, Old rich boy didn't.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Think didn't you think he was the smartest one of
the bunch?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Oh that's hard? Uh? He Jess and him are both
very smart. Jess is hard because like, Jess was a
teenager when we met him and not like turning into
an adult right then when Jess comes back, I would
say they're comparatively smart.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Who is your favorite Gilmore Girls couple? Luke and Lorelei
or Emily and Richard.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Oh, Emily and Richard. I love Emily and Richard.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Would you rather work with Michelle or Kirk?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, I think I did work with Kirk. I'm trying
to think here, Well, Kirk would be a better character
wise Michelle. That's hard. It seems like Michelle's been able
to keep the same job, so there's one would argue
he's a better worker by that logic, But from what
you see on TV, Kirk seeds nicer.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Mm hm. Would you rather hang out with Paris or Lane?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I mean in reality Lane, in television lay on Paris
because she has some of the best scenes and the
most entertaining moments ever. So like from if you're like,
if I was like trailing and like writing a book,
I would want to be following Paris because I feel
like the material you would get out of that would
be better.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Okay, Harvard or Yale?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I mean Harvard, why if I'm going to go into
the thing of the show, I don't like that she
kept inside the same legacy of the family story point wise,
totally understand it gave more more room and more drama,
but ultimately I think the reason she ended up dropping
(26:10):
out of Yale was because she put the pressure on
herself to do things exactly like how her grandfather did,
whereas Harvard would have been her own person further away
from stars Hollow, which I think probably would have been
good for her because one could argue she had a
codependent relationship with her mother.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Mm hmmm, mm hmmm. All right, Harvard, or drop out
and live in a poolhouse Harvard.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
No one approves of the living in the poolhouse gap year.
I support I support the gap year. I do not
like that she just wasn't doing anything.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Gotcha? Would you rather attend a dar event with Emily
or a town meeting with Taylor?
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Oh, town meeting with Taylor?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Uh huh? Gilmore. Girl's character that you would want as
a roommate?
Speaker 2 (26:57):
A roommate ooh oh, that's tough. Who would be a
good roommate? Probably Suki?
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Suki is a roommate. Yeah, a mother of two children.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Well, I'm assuming she's going through a divorce at that point.
If she's getting.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
She's moving it. So you want Suki divorced with children.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
I want Suki fighting for custody.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Gotcha? Okay, that might be the best answer we've ever
had on rapid fire something in your life. You are
all in.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
On, all in on I mean the Real Housewives. I'm
all in on the Real.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Housewives, gotcha?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Gotcha, Vanessa Morano, thank you so much for your time.
It was a pleasure catching up with you, and I
hope we can do this again. It's not too busy.
We'd love to have you back on. I think I
can speak for the group. You're always welcome here, and
good luck with everything and your producing career and your
(28:07):
directing career, and I know you're going to be a
big deal and I'm going to need probably a couple
of parts, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Done, there we go if I'm in the position.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Best to your mom, best to your sister. Okay, good
seeing you all right, Bye bye, everybody, don't again. Follow
(28:54):
us on Instagram at I Am All In Podcast and
email us at guilt more at iHeartRadio dot com.
Hosts And Creators
Amy Sugarman
Danielle Romo
Scott Patterson
Tara Soudbaksh
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