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Jared Padalecki recalled a sweet memory with his Gilmore Girls co-star Edward Herrmann, sharing the moment he realized the late actor had an “eidetic memory.” While joined by former co-star Matt Czuchry in an interview for People‘s Sexiest Man Alive issue, Padalecki, 43, said one of his favorite moments filming Gilmore Girls was an unexpected encounter with Herrmann during a long day of filming the season 2 episode titled “The Bracebridge Dinner.” “It was before the Lord of the Rings movies came out, and I was reading one of the books, and Ed Herrmann, rest in peace, an amazing man, came up and he said, ‘Have you read them before?’ I was like, ‘No, it’s my first time,'” Padalecki said. “He’s like, ‘Where are you right now?’ When I told him, he just rattled off quotes from the scene.” Padalecki went on to say that he thinks Herrmann, who had a lengthy and impressive acting career before Gilmore Girls, had an “eidetic memory.” According to Simply Psychology, an eidetic memory refers to “the ability to vividly recall images from memory after only a few instances of exposure, with high accuracy for a short time after exposure, without using a memory aid.” “I remember I turned it back a page, and I was like, ‘That’s exactly what happened,” Padalecki recalled. “He said, ‘You’ll enjoy it very well.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is a brilliant man.'” The Supernatural star went on to joke he was just a “little Jared Padalecki from San Antonio” during the early days of his career, though he said Herrmann was always kind to him on set on Gilmore Girls. “He just treated me like an equal,” Padalecki shared of Herrmann, who died in 2014 following his battle with brain cancer. “I was like, ‘Maybe I can do this.’” Czuchry, 48, chimed in to share his perspective on Padalecki’s experience. “Those are the moments you remember as an actor — being on set and the connection with the cast, the connection with the crew, being at craft service and all those things,” he said. “That connection is what’s so beautiful about the behind-the-scenes aspects.” Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Padalecki starred on the early seasons of Gilmore Girls as Rory Gilmore’s first boyfriend, Dean Forester, while Czuchry joined the show in season 5 to play her third serious boyfriend, Logan Huntzberger. Meanwhile, Herrmann starred on all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls as Rory’s grandfather, Richard Gilmore. While Czuchry was “the new kid on the block” when he joined the show, he said that he always felt welcomed on set. “It just felt so welcoming to be a part of that experience and for them to say, ‘Hey, no, no, you’re a part of this. You’re making this happen,’” he shared. “I remember that episode fondly because of the emotional way that it connected to me and how important it was for me to feel like I belonged.”
