Graham has perfected the role of the quirky, chatty single mother whose flaws anchor the show as much as her trademark zippy dialogue.

It's easy to find parallels between Graham and her television counterpart: They both talk fast, toss off jokes with aplomb, tend toward self-deprecation, and prefer jeans to pretty much anything else. We are talking about some of Graham's favorite places in Georgetown to buy vintage jeans, when I suggest she is someone who wears jeans well. She laughs. "I think I'm just too lazy to wear anything else," she says. But that's not entirely accurate. Her long, thin frame sits perfectly snug in a tight pair of denims. Not all women are that lucky.

"Oh, I disagree; I believe there is a jean for everyone," she says, as if proclaiming the Pledge of Allegiance. "Some people just haven't found theirs yet. I like to think that one of my great talents is finding the right pair of jeans for people." And so I offer her a test: What kind of jeans would she suggest for someone who is short and curvy? She responds like the kid who actually studied for the pop quiz. "Have you tried Juicy?" she asks. "It's a very forgiving cut with a long flare. I have trouble with Juicy because I'm tall, but I think you'd like it. It's a rounder cut." I haven't tried Juicy yet, but I will.

Actresses are often described as down-to-earth. What this usually means is that they don't have a nanny (shocking!) or they occasionally leave the house without makeup. Graham, on the other hand, really does seem down-to-earth. She is an actress whose personality actually overshadows her good looks. She is so likable that it's easy to forget she is, as it turns out, quite beautiful.

She's also right about the zoo, by the way. Both Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the National Zoo in 1972, when Lauren Graham was five years old and brand-new to town. She had just moved to the D.C. area with her father after stints in Japan, in Honolulu, and on a houseboat in the Virgin Islands - "all the most glamorous places, before I was old enough to remember them," she jokes. Although Graham plays one of television's coolest moms, she actually grew up without one. "It was me and my dad on our own," she says. "For a while, my father was trying to be a writer and living the exotic writer's life," she says. "And then I think he realized, 'Wait, I've got a daughter. I've got to get a job.'?"

Living together in D.C., they formed a tight-knit duo not entirely unlike Lorelai and her bookish daughter, Rory, played by Alexis Bledel. Graham and her father went to see ballet, theater, and puppet shows all over the city. They toured the city's wealth of museums. "At that time, you're too young to realize these things are good for you," she says. So she stared in awe at the iceman mummy in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and watched, awestruck, as the Foucault pendulum at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History shifted according to the rotation of the earth. ("I think!" she adds. "Fact-check! Fact-check!" As it turns out, the pendulum was moved from the museum in 1998.) She was wonkish like that, with more than a streak of the tomboy. "I didn't like Barbies," she says. "I was into trains and model horses and dinosaurs."

While Graham has reclaimed something of her girly-girl side - she wouldn't turn down a good pillow fight, for example - she has maintained a pragmatic, jeans-and-a-T-shirt unfussiness. She was raised by her father, after all. And though she is currently filming a self-proclaimed "chick flick" called Because I Said So with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, anyone who saw her on NewsRadio or in her novel turn as a randy bartender in Bad Santa can tell she is something of a guy's gal. "My first boyfriend was a guy who'd been my best friend for years," she says. "I've always had a low tolerance for sap."

That's something she's brought to her work on Gilmore Girls, which manages to be touching and deeply feminine without seeming saccharine. Despite the obvious go-girl underpinnings of the show, including a you-complete-me theme song by Carole King, the show has managed to keep its edge by exploring not merely the friendship between mother and daughter but also the inevitable, and complicated, tensions. In 2002, Graham was nominated for a Golden Globe as the best leading actress in a dramatic series, and if Hollywood weren't so dismissive of actresses who prefer a light comic touch to histrionics, it might not have been her only nomination.

Unlike many little girls who grow up to be actresses, Graham didn't grow up with red-carpet dreams and Marilyn Monroe fixations. Her introduction to acting was through the regional theaters of D.C. "I wasn't particularly outgoing, but I liked playing someone else," she says. When she was a child, her father read to her every night, and acting just seemed like a natural extension. Her first experience onstage was at Arlington Children's Theatre - "I was Cook Number Three, and I had one line, like, 'The bread is ready!'?" - followed by a summer theater program at Catholic University and a workshop at the Arena Stage, a well-regarded regional group producing both new and classic plays. "I was one of the youngest people in the workshop," she remembers, "and it should have been really intimidating. But for me, there was no better thing than being part of the Arena ensemble. They all knew each other; they did all these shows together. It's funny that I'm in television now, because I didn't really have a desire to be glamorous. My goal was to be in regional theater. That was as far as my vision went."

D.C. is better known for its theatrics than for its theater, yet the latter is the aspect of the city that had the most profound effect on Graham. "D.C. isn't a theater town, but it has a nice theater community. And it has a cultural center, so there are really quality productions, and it's a place where people go to the opera and theater," she says. And so she felt more than a twinge of recognition when she saw a play of Carson McCullers's The Member of the Wedding, about a bored and aching 12-year-old girl. She saw shows at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and saw her first Chekhov play at the Arena Stage. At the time, her father was working on his English master's degree at Georgetown University. He was a voracious reader who leapt at the opportunity to share his love of literature. "And this stuff was probably over my head," she says, "but if there was anything remotely age-appropriate,­ my dad would take me."

At Langley High School, Graham continued in theater but wasn't consumed by it. She was a good student and spent a year on drill team and student council. After graduating at 17, Graham went to New York - "mostly because of the movie Fame," she jokes - to study at Barnard College. Like her father, she studied English, but the stage was still lodged in her heart. She got her master's in theater at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas and eventually moved to L.A. to pursue work in movies and television. She starred in a string of failed sitcoms before hitting her stride on Gilmore Girls.

These days, D.C. has become something of a respite from the gossip and ­navel-gazing of Graham's home in L.A. "I love being in a city that doesn't care about show business," she says. "I like to see people in suits and ties, because where I come from, it's all baseball caps and shorts. My father wore a suit and tie to work every day, but that formality is almost exotic to me now."

Her father, now married, currently heads the National Confectioners Association and lives in Great Falls, Virginia. She visits him several times a year and revels in "old-school, stately Washington places" like the Hay-Adams Hotel, with its luxurious rooms, some of which overlook the White House. She likes eating at the Capital Grille, which she describes as "classic D.C. - it's wood, it's steak, it's martinis" - and at Georgetown bistros like Billy Martin's Tavern and Clyde's. For pizza and deli sandwiches, she likes the Italian Store. ("Which is technically in Arlington, but who cares? It's delicious," she says.)

Her favorite, however, is L'Auberge Chez François, the cozy, charming Alsatian restaurant near her father's current home. "You have to make reservations like a year in advance," she says. You'd think someone who'd been nominated for a Golden Globe might be able to pull a few strings. But instead, Graham has a sneakier plan for landing a spot at Chez François. "Sometimes, if it's snowing or icy, we'll drive over," she says, "because we know people from the city can't make it."

Now living in a city that has no seasons, Graham doesn't even mind bracing East Coast winters, although she prefers the city in autumn, when the trees are ablaze with color. "It's a pretty mild fall," she says. "But I find it so beautiful. There are these drives that I love, like driving over Key Bridge. It's the entrance from suburban Virginia to the base of Georgetown. You drive over the bridge and everything just changes." In fall, she can ride her bike along the W&OD Trail (short for Washington and Old Dominion), stretching from Virginia into Georgetown, a scenic trip she has taken since she was a teenager without a driver's license, itching to get into the city. Each time she's in town, she makes a point to walk around the monuments and the Mall. "It's a city planned around these memorials. Unlike, say, other well-planned cities that may have monuments scattered around town, D.C. has all this space that is designed for you to appreciate these monuments and museums." She likes the older museums, like the Smith­sonian National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. And her favorite monument? "I like the Lincoln Memorial," she says. "I love that he's sitting in this weird chair. I remember when I saw him as a kid, he seemed strangely relaxed and welcoming."

One thing she doesn't miss about D.C., however, is the summer. "I was a camp counselor, and I remember just wanting to die, it was so humid," she says. After all, the city is a swamp. "My hair is really curly, and it was just a mess." Yes, Lauren Graham is down-to-earth. Yes, Lauren Graham isn't terribly glamorous. But, come on: Every girl has her limits.



She Said … Lauren Graham's Washington, D.C., monuments

LODGING
Hay-Adams Hotel, very expensive, (202) 638-6600, www.hayadams.com

DINING
Billy Martin's Tavern,
expensive, (202) 333-7370, www.billymartinstavern.com

Capital Grille, very expensive,
(202) 737-6200, www.thecapitalgrille.com

Clyde's of Georgetown, moderate to expensive, (202) 333-9180, www.clydes.com

The Italian Store, inexpensive, (703) 528-6266, www.italianstore.com

L'Auberge Chez François, very expensive, (703) 759-3800, www.aubergefrancois.com

ATTRACTIONS
Arena Stage, (202) 488-3300, www.arenastage.org

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, (202) 467-4600, www.kennedy-
center.org

Lincoln Memorial, (202) 426-6841

Lincoln Theatre, (202) 328-6000, www.thelincolntheatre.org

Rock Creek Park, (202) 895-6070, www.nps.gov/rocr

Shakespeare Theatre Company, (202) 547-1122, www.shakespearedc.org

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, (202) 357-2700, www.nasm.si.edu

Smithsonian National Museum of American History, (202) 633-1000, www.americanhistory.si.edu

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, (202) 633-1000, www.mnh.si.edu

Smithsonian National Zoological Park, (202) 673-4800, www.natzoo.si.edu

The W&OD Trail, (703) 729-0596, www.wodfriends.org


We Said … Our Washington, D.C., monuments

LODGING
Jurys Washington Hotel, expensive to very expensive, (202) 483-6000, www.jurysdoyle.com/usa/washington_hotel.htm. This modern Dupont Circle lodging embodies the hospitality and homeyness you'd expect from the Irish-run Jurys chain. There's an American restaurant on-site, but why not go for a pint and some shepherd's pie at their pub, Biddy Mulligan's?

Topaz Hotel, moderate, (202) 393-3000, www.topazhotel.com. Some visitors prefer the Tabard Inn next door, but we like this funky Kimpton outpost. From its staffers cloaked in sunburst tunics to the in-room yoga channel, the vibe may have you wishing the boys up on Capitol Hill would check in for a little enlightenment.

DINING
Annie's Paramount Steak House, moderate, (202) 232-0395. Want to splurge on steak like a politico on an expense account but don't have the funds? Consider this 17th Street spot. The steaks aren't as deluxe as the dry-aged cuts that the Palm serves up, but neither are the prices.

Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant, inexpensive. The ground floor of this Chinatown favorite is a Mongolian barbecue joint (202-842-8669), where you pick your ingredients and watch the chefs whip it up on giant grills. But we prefer the upstairs restaurant (202-371-8669), popular not only for its Cantonese­-style shrimp, lobster, crab, and other seafood sensations, but also for its juicy roast duck.

ATTRACTIONS
Monuments by Moonlight, (202) 832-9800, www.historictours.com/washington. Are D.C. and the Washington Monument as romantic as Paris and the Eiffel Tower? Judge for yourself on this two-and-a-half-hour trolley trip to some of the city's most popular points of interest.

National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, (202) 633-1000, www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy. How cool is it that you can see your first D.C. attraction without even leaving the Dulles area? Just over two years old, this companion to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum houses part of what makes up the world's largest assemblage of aviation and space artifacts, from flight simulators to experimental flying machines.

The Phillips Collection, (202) 387-2151, www.phillipscollection.org. At the moment, the Phillips has two firsts to its name. Not only was it the country's first museum of modern art, but it's also the only stateside venue of the exhibit Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris, 1870-1910, which runs through May 14. The exhibit itself includes a handful of works never before on public view.




Lauren Graham grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, right next to the National Zoo. "And how great is that?" she asks. As a little girl, she loved animals and was always bringing home stray cats and dogs, and the zoo is a place she remembers vividly. Well, kind of. "We saw the pandas there," she says fondly, then stops. "Wait, were there pandas? Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were the pandas there. Is that right? I'll have to fact-check that. Or you can get your people on it. Do you have people? Get them on it." It's a charming little diversion, equal parts self-doubt and tongue-in-cheek bossiness, that would be familiar to fans of the WB's Gilmore Girls, in which Graham has starred for the past six seasons. As Lorelai Gilmore,