Alexis Bledel

Alexis Bledel (born September 16, 1981) is an American actress and fashion model. She is best known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Early life

Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Nanette (née Dozier), is Mexican, and her father, Martin Bledel, is an Argentine of Danish descent. She has a younger brother. Her first language is Spanish, and she did not learn English until she began school. Bledel's mother encouraged her to try community theater when she was a child to overcome her shyness.She attended Catholic St. Agnes Academy in Houston. Bledel also attended Baptist and Lutheran school.

As a child, Bledel appeared in local productions of Our Town and The Wizard of Oz. She was scouted at a local shopping mall and given work as a fashion model. She went to Page Parkes Center for Modeling and Acting and attendedNYU's Tisch School of the Arts for one year.

Career

Bledel made her TV debut on The WB series Gilmore Girls in 2000. She portrayed Rory Gilmore, the daughter of single mother Lorelai Gilmore. Initially, Rory was a high school student living with her mother, but later moved on to college at Yale University, where she, among other things, worked as the editor of the Yale Daily News. She made her film debut in Tuck Everlasting, released in 2002, though she had worked as an extra in the 1998 film Rushmore.

She appeared as the main character in the music video for Less Than Jake's "She's Gonna Break Soon", lead single from their 2003 albumAnthem. The single charted at number 39 on the UK charts. In 2005, she starred in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants based on the book by Ann Brashares. She played Lena Kaligaris, an artist on a journey with her three best friends, linked over the summer by a pair of "magical" jeans.

In 2005, Bledel portrayed Becky, a prostitute, in the movie Sin City. "She's a very professional prostitute. She carries a gun and she kicks ass," said Bledel of Becky. Sin City was color adjusted to nearly black-and-white, leaving only splashes of color here and there, such as a red dress, blood or an entirely yellow character named That Yellow Bastard. In Becky's case, it was her eyes that kept their color.

In 2006, Bledel starred in I'm Reed Fish as Reed Fish's fiance. Bledel reprised her role of Lena Kaligaris from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in the film's sequel, released in August 2008. Bledel next starred in Post Grad, which opened on August 21, 2009, alongside Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, and Carol Burnett.

In 2009, Bledel starred opposite Scott Porter in the film The Good Guy, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival April 26, 2009. In this, Porter plays a Wall Street businessman whose life begins to fall apart when he helps out a new salesman. Bledel played Beth, Porter's girlfriend.Anna Chlumsky of My Girl plays her friend. She was also a guest star on the two-hour series finale of ER, playing new intern Dr. Julia Wise.

In May 2009, Bledel returned to the modeling world, signing a contract with the modeling division of IMG.

In 2010, Bledel appeared in the historical drama The Conspirator directed by Robert Redford. She plays the wife of Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), the lawyer who defended Mary Surratt, the first woman to be hanged in the United States, played by Robin Wright. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is expected to hit theaters in spring 2011.

Also in 2010, Bledel completed work as the lead actress in the independent Canadian film The Kate Logan Affair. The film was presented at Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2010.

Future work

She has recently been cast in a new movie entitled The Letters, which is anticipated to be released in 2011. The Letters is a drama / thriller film by director Todd Fjelsted and is currently in pre-production.

It has also been announced that Bledel will be joining the cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, a hit Off Broadway show written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. She is scheduled to perform in early 2011.

Personal life

Bledel enjoys reading, hiking, taking photographs and spending time with her family and friends. She also likes to play the piano. Between scenes on Gilmore Girls, she went to her trailer to play her keyboard. She also works with First Book, a nonprofit organization, which gives books to the poor. After drinking so much coffee due to her character Rory's strong appreciation for it on the first season of Gilmore Girls, she became tired of it. When Rory "drinks coffee," Bledel is drinking tea or Coca-Cola instead.

She dated her Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia for three and a half years, beginning around December 2002, before separating sometime before July 2006. On September 2010, she was spotted together with British model John Paul.

During an April 25, 2006 appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Bledel revealed that she loves traveling to Europe, and that she has been to the Tuscany region of Italy. In the same appearance, she also stated that she likes all types of foods, from gourmet cuisine to fast food specialties.

In an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on May 25, 2007 she revealed that she plays soccer recreationally, on a team called "The Hustlers".

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Rushmore	Student (uncredited)
2000–2007	Gilmore Girls	Rory Gilmore	153 episodes
2002	Tuck Everlasting	Winnie Foster
2004	DysEnchanted	Goldilocks	Short film
2004	Bride and Prejudice	Georgina 'Georgie' Darcy
2005	The Orphan King	Dylan
2005	Sin City	Becky
2005	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Lena Kaligaris
2006	I'm Reed Fish	Kate
2006	Life Is Short	Charlotte	Short film
2008	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	Lena Kaligaris
2009	ER	Dr. Julia Wise	Episode: "And in the End..."
2009	The Good Guy	Beth Vest
2009	Post Grad	Ryden Malby
2009	The Ballad of G.I. Joe	Lady Jaye	Video short
2010	The Conspirator	Sarah Weston	Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
2010	The Kate Logan Affair	Kate Logan	Premiered at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2010
2011	Girl Walks into a Bar[19]	Exotic Dancer	Premiering on Youtube March 11, 2011[20]
2011	Violet & Daisy[21]	Violet	Filming
2011	The Letters	Janet Treadway	Pre-production
2011	Sleepaway Camp Reunion	Lauren Scott	Pre-production
2012	A Nightmare on Elm Street 2	Mackenzie Logan	Announced

Awards and other recognitions

Nominations

• 2002: Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Supporting Young Actress for Gilmore Girls.
• 2003: Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Tuck Everlasting.
• 2004: Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Actress: Comedy for Gilmore Girls.
• 2006: NCLR ALMA Award.

Awards

• 2001: Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Leading Young Actress. Gilmore Girls.
• 2002: Family Television Award for Actress for Gilmore Girls.
• 2005: Teen Choice Award for Choice It Girl.
• 2005: Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Comedy for Gilmore Girls.
• 2006: Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Comedy for Gilmore Girls.

Other recognitions

• In 2002, Bledel was voted one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25".
• She was ranked #87 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.^[22]
• In 2010, Bledel was named one of Us Magazine's "25 Most Stylish New Yorkers"

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