Post Grad Connects with College Students

By Broadside staff writer Ross Bonaime

For college students graduating soon, the question will arise of what to do after school. Post Grad, the new film starring Alexis Bledel and Zach Gilford and released on August 21st, will deal with the real world after college.

“I think kind of one of the big messages of it is not to like be so obsessed with having to have a job. Like, that’s not all that life is right now. And that will work itself out over time, like you’ll find employment, but there are other aspects of life,” said Gilford. “So even though it’s hard right now, maybe don’t get so obsessed over that and like find the other things that can keep you going until you find some steady employment.”

In Post Grad, Bledel plays Ryden Malby, who graduates from college and is not able to find a job. Much to her dismay, she must move back in with her family and try to find a new job. While at home, she meets Adam, played by Gilford, who likes her, yet she does not seem to reciprocate his feelings.

For Bledel, her first post-school job was as Rory in the critically acclaimed TV show “Gilmore Girls”. Yet she was not expecting that role to propel her into success the way it did. “For me, it was just like a surprise. It wasn’t a plan, and it wasn’t a backup plan. I just kind of fell into it, but I was a film major in school, so I think I wanted to be involved somehow in the industry, I just didn’t know how yet.”

But for fans of “Gilmore Girls,” they should be interested in Bledel’s character in Post Grad.

“This character’s story picks up in the same stage of life where Rory left off, but she’s a completely different girl because she makes a lot of mistakes,” says Bledel. “She is very imperfect and she’s much more outgoing. She has a very typical college experience, she’s not necessarily one who’s, you know, gifted. She’s kind of an average girl, and I can relate much more to her, and I think her story is much more relatable, too.”

Gilford has also risen to popularity on TV with “Friday Night Lights” as quarterback Matt Saracen. In Post Grad, he found the cast of comedic geniuses to be very exciting.

“I mean obviously, Carol Burnett is like a legend, and Jane Lynch is amazing, and Michael Keaton. I found it to be pretty awesome and humbling,” he said.

Gilford also found the message of the film to be an interesting one.

“It’s about life and the people you’re around. So I think that’s a big message that kind of will say like even though maybe you don’t have a job, like remember, that’s not the main thing” said Gilford.

Overall, Post Grad is about how uncertain life can be.

“I guess the point of the film is that you can’t plan everything, which is, I don’t know, I find it comforting," said Bladel. "A lot of people don’t, but I think it’s a comforting thought.”