Milo Ventimiglia is joining the upcoming fourth season of Amazon Prime’s hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Per TVLine, the This Is Us star will appear in an as-yet-undisclosed role.
The casting represents a Gilmore Girls reunion of sorts, reuniting Ventimiglia with creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Daniel Palladino. Ventimiglia's role as Rory’s sometimes romantic interest, Jess, earned him a special place in the hearts of Gilmore Girls fans, but also left an impression on the young actor. “I liked Dan and Amy when I first met them, and I was a fan,” Ventimiglia told Variety in 2018. “Now I love them.”
That feeling is clearly mutual, as Sherman-Paladino teased reuniting with Ventimiglia back in 2018:
“Don’t think it has not been discussed! It’s got to be the right part. It can’t be just a cameo. It’s got to have some meat to it. And it’s also got to be a time when he can shave and cut his hair into a 1950s-period look. But the reuniting will definitely happen.”
Ventimiglia joins the previously announced John Waters, and Season 3 guest star Stephanie Hsu is also set to return. As are Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak, and Caroline Aaron. Luke Kirby will also return in his now expanded recurring role as Lenny Bruce.
Production on Season 4 was delayed for over a year due to COVID, but filming began back in January. Palladino hinted that complying with new COVID protocols and restrictions did lead to some production changes. “There will be a lot more visual effects because there are limits to what we can do,” he explained. “Last season, our premiere had 850 extras in an airplane hangar. We cannot do that.”
The fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is currently in production. No word yet on when to expect it, but the first three seasons are streaming on Amazon Prime now.