Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry are back together—and this time, it’s all about soup. The Gilmore Girls alum reunited for a playful new Panera Bread campaign, promoting the chain’s fall menu of cozy comfort foods.
Fans may remember Padalecki and Czuchry as two of Rory Gilmore’s famous boyfriends: Dean Forester and Logan Huntzberger. In the ad, the actors bring their signature charm to Panera’s soups, which are cleverly paired with the personalities of Rory’s three suitors. Padalecki’s Dean, the dependable high school sweetheart, represents Fireside Chili, “the reliable one” that “tastes like home.” Czuchry’s Logan, the sophisticated Yale student, mirrors the refined Autumn Squash Soup. And for good measure, Black Bean Soup embodies the “brooding, mysterious” Milo Ventimiglia character, Jess Mariano.
For Czuchry, the collaboration was an opportunity to revisit the beloved series, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in October 2025. “I love that feeling, that essence of hygge, that is a feeling of this coziness, and contentment, and warmth and togetherness,” he told People. “And it also goes into kind of a lifestyle with blankets, and candles and great home-cooked meals.”
Working with Padalecki on set was equally comforting. “I’ve seen him over the years and always loved his energy and his kindness, and that’s how it was on set for us as well,” Czuchry says.
The duo’s reunion also highlights the ongoing fandom debate over who was Rory’s ultimate love. “Fans still enjoy debating their favorite boyfriend for Alexis Bledel’s character because they love Rory so much,” Czuchry says. “It’s Gilmore Girls. It’s about that mother and daughter relationship and what they go through in their lives, and so they want the best for Rory. And people have very strong opinions on who that should be.”
Czuchry also reflected on his character’s arc, which included dating Rory at Yale and proposing before being turned down. He also revisited the 2016 revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, when Rory continued seeing Logan while Czuchry’s character was engaged to a French heiress, Odette.
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“Perhaps if Logan had ended up marrying Odette and was with Odette for several years, but then realized that, OK, I’m doing what I always did before and doing what was expected of me because of my family, but the love of my life is Rory and I’m going to go back and chase that again, I think he would want to try again with her, even though she said no the first time,” he explained. “Then I could see that relationship working at the end of where we left the original show.”
Czuchry added, “Of course, Logan proposed, she said no. And I think that was probably the right choice for Rory because it just wasn’t the right time. And then if you go back to when we did the revival, again, the timing wasn’t right for them.”
