We adore her on-screen as the captivating Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) where she is the self-sufficient and independent single mother and business owner. But have you ever wondered why her real-life counterpart, Lauren Graham, never chose to tie the knot herself?
The 57-year-old actress, writer and icon has lived quite the life, from the wildly successful Gilmore Girls to another hit role on the drama, Parenthood (2010-2015), both series in which she portrays a mother to a daughter. Perhaps she’s emulating Lorelai Gilmore or maybe Graham is simply uninterested in a union such as a marriage. But whatever the reason, fans can’t help but wonder why that would be.
Why has Lauren Graham never married?
Graham has dated a few familiar faces in Hollywood throughout her career, but the most well-remembered relationship was with Parenthood co-star Peter Krause, who portrayed her on-screen brother Adam Braverman. The couple was together for nearly 12 years, from 2010 until their breakup in 2021, yet they never tied the knot.
On a 2014 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the host plainly asked Graham if she would ever consider marrying Krause.
“Phew, suddenly it’s like I’m talking to my grandma,” Graham started. “It’s all she wants to know. I don’t know. We are very happy as we are, and I never have a good answer for this question.”
“We’re really happy,” she continued. “I feel like close to five years in Hollywood is, like, ‘Aren’t we married already, really?’ I don’t know, it’s good the way it is.” She then added, “I’m tempted to be, like, ‘Big announcement everybody,’ but that would be a lie.”
Graham addressed the marriage question in another interview in 2010 when she was asked whether she wanted to ever walk down the aisle.
“I admire that kind of commitment,” Graham answered. “I’m enjoying where I am right now and I’m open to whatever happens in the future.”
Lauren Graham talks about kids
Aside from the question of marriage, Graham has also briefly addressed the matter of kids. Of course, she portrays a mother on both of her hit series, but when asked whether she dreamed of having a daughter of her own, the actress shared her thoughts.
“Sure,” she said. “I love having kids in my life. And it’s not at all the same, but I know a lot of teenagers — more than some moms I know — and I’ve been really, really lucky to have two amazing kids on my shows who I love spending time with. Of course, Alexis [Bledel, who played her daughter on Gilmore Girls] will always be my first.”
Krause had a son of his own, who she became very close to. “I’ve never been a mom, but I have loved a child who lived in my house for a long time,” Graham wrote in her new book, Have I Told You This Already? Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember. She also addressed this in an interview, saying, “I was a contributor in the life of his child, and so we’re connected.”
Graham addresses the marriage situation on ‘Gilmore Girls’
Throughout the series’ seven seasons, Lorelai remained unmarried, besides the whirlwind union with her daughter’s father, Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) that ended faster than it began, which was something even Graham didn’t like.
In an interview, she addressed the oddity of her character marrying her daughter’s father, Chris.
“Apparently during this season [7], Christopher and Lorelai get married in Paris,” Graham said. “I have to admit, this seemed so odd to me back then (especially after all that time apart; I just didn’t think Lorelai would get married without Rory present), that I somehow managed to completely forget it ever happened.”
Graham’s character did have two engagements during the series: one early on to Max Medina (Scott Cohen) but she ultimately backed out of that, as well as an engagement to Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), yet they didn’t marry (at least not until the A Year In the Life Netflix miniseries). Well, it seems Graham is living her best Lorelai Gilmore life.
