Come hell, high water or Freeform, Vanessa Marano was returning to Stars Hollow.

According to the actress, she was knee-deep into production on Switched at Birth when she was invited to reprise her polarizing role as Luke’s daughter April in Netflix’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. But she was determined not to let one thing interfere with the other. “I was like, ‘Listen everybody, I have to do Gilmore Girls,'” she recalled to me Friday at the revival’s premiere, which she attended with sister Laura. “Our [Switched at Birth] line producer made it happen.”

Marano then presented to me the three reasons she simply had to check a Gilmore revival off her bucket list. “A, Redemption,” she said. “And, B, It was my favorite show. And, C, I’m just so excited it’s coming back!” Gilmore Girls Red Carpet Premiere

And the icing on the cake for Marano? April’s a bit of a basket case when we meet up with her in A Year in the Life (which bows this Friday). “It’s great because she doesn’t have her stuff together at all,” she enthuses. “And I’m so excited about that.”

Watch my Marano Q&A above and then check back in the coming hours and days for more from Stars Hollow’s elite as TVLine’s “18 Days of Gilmore” scoop countdown continues.

