Alexis Bledel Biography

Kimberly Alexis Bledel ( ; ; born September 16, 1981) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Rory Gilmore on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-07), for which she received nominations for Satellite, Teen Choice and Young Artist Awards. She made her feature film debut as Winnie Foster in Tuck Everlasting (2002), and has since appeared in Sin City (2005), Post Grad (2009) as well as portraying Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film series. Bledel reprised her role as Rory Gilmore on Netflix's reunion miniseries, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016).

Early life

Bledel was born in Houston, Texas, to Nanette (ne Dozier), who worked as a gift processor and flight attendant, and Martn Bledel. She has a younger brother, Eric. Her father was born and raised in Argentina. Her paternal grandfather, Enrique Einar Bledel Huus, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was of Danish and distant German descent; Enrique was Vice President of Coca-Cola Latin America and the Coca-Cola Inter-American Corporation. Bledel's paternal grandmother, Jean (ne Campbell), was originally from New York, and had Scottish and English ancestry. Bledel's mother, Nanette, was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, at the age of eight; Nanette was raised there, and in Mexico City. Of her parents' upbringing in Latin America, Bledel has stated "It's the only culture my mom knows from life, and my father as well, and they made the decision to raise their children within the context they had been raised in". Bledel grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, and did not learn English until she began school; she considers herself a Latina.

Bledel attended Catholic St. Agnes Academy in Houston, as well as Baptist and Lutheran schools. Her mother encouraged her to try community theater to overcome her shyness. 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 attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for one year.

Career

Bledel made her television debut opposite Lauren Graham in The WB comedy-drama Gilmore Girls, which ran for seven seasons from October 5, 2000 to May 15, 2007. She played Rory Gilmore, the daughter of Lorelai Gilmore (Graham), a single mother. Initially, Rory was a high school student at an exclusive private academy, living with her mother in a small town in Connecticut, but later moved on to college at Yale University, where she, among other things, worked as the editor of the Yale Daily News. Bledel made her feature film debut opposite Jonathan Jackson in the fantasy romantic drama Tuck Everlasting (2002), based on Natalie Babbitt's novel of the same name (1975). Before her work in that film, Bledel was an uncredited extra in the 1998 comedy-drama Rushmore. In 2005, she co-starred in the drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, opposite Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, and Blake Lively, and based on Ann Brashares' novel of the same name. She played Lena Kaligaris, an aspiring artist on a journey with her three best friends, linked over the summer by a pair of "magical" jeans.

In 2005, Bledel co-starred in the anthology neo-noir crime thriller Sin City where she played Becky, a prostitute. "She's a very professional prostitute. She carries a gun and she kicks ass," said Bledel of her character. In 2006, Bledel co-starred opposite Jay Baruchel in the romantic comedy I'm Reed Fish as the fiance of Baruchel's title character. After the end of Gilmore Girls, she reprised her role of Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, released in August 2008. The following year, Bledel starred in the comedy Post Grad, which was released on August 21, 2009.

Bledel co-starred opposite Scott Porter and Bryan Greenberg in the romantic comedy The Good Guy, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival April 26, 2009. The film centered around Porter's character Tommy, a Wall Street investment broker whose life falls apart when he helps out Greenberg's character Daniel, a new broker. Bledel played Beth, Tommy's girlfriend. In April 2009, Bledel guest-starred in the NBC medical drama ER in the two-hour series finale titled "And in the End..." as Dr. Julia Wise, a new intern to the hospital. In May 2009, Bledel signed a contract with the modeling division of IMG.

Bledel co-starred opposite James McAvoy and Robin Wright in the historical drama The Conspirator directed by Robert Redford. She played the girlfriend of McAvoy's character Frederick Aiken, the lawyer who defended Mary Surratt, the first woman to be hanged by the federal government of the United States, played by Wright. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on April 15, 2011. Also in 2010, Bledel starred as the title role in the Canadian drama The Kate Logan Affair. The film was presented at Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinma 2010.

Bledel performed in the theatre production Regrets by the Manhattan Theatre Club, staged at the New York City Center. It was confirmed in early-March 2013 that Bledel would co-star opposite Jason Ritter in the Fox pilot Friends & Family, an adaptation of the British sitcom Gavin & Stacey as Stacey with Ritter as Gavin. The pilot was picked up for a series and was retitled Us & Them. However, Fox eventually decided not to air the series. 2015 saw Bledel starring with Katherine Heigl as the fiance to Heigl's character in the film Jenny's Wedding.

On January 29, 2016, Netflix announced a revival of Gilmore Girls with a series of four 90-minute films set around the four seasons, and Bledel's participation was confirmed.

Personal life

Bledel previously dated her Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia for four years, from 2002 until 2006.

In 2012, Bledel began dating her Mad Men co-star Vincent Kartheiser. The couple announced their engagement in March 2013 and married in California, in June 2014. In May 2016, Bledel's representative confirmed she gave birth to their first child, a son, in fall 2015.

Bledel supported the 2012 re-election of Barack Obama and urged her fans to vote.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Rushmore	Student	Uncredited
2002	Tuck Everlasting	Winnie Foster Jackson
2004	Cunto cuesta la admisin?	Monique	Short film
2004	DysEnchanted	Goldilocks	Short film
2004	Bride and Prejudice	Georgina "Georgie" Darcy
2005	Sin City	Becky
2005	'	Lena Kaligaris
2006	I'm Reed Fish	Kate
2006	Zoom	Ace	Uncredited
2006	Life Is Short	Charlotte	Short film
2008	'	Lena Kaligaris
2009	'	Beth Vest
2009	Post Grad	Ryden Malby
2009	'	Lady Jaye	Video short
2010	'	Sarah Weston	Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
2010	'	Kate Logan	Premiered at the Festival du Nouveau Cinma
2010	Girl Walks into a Bar	Kim	Premiered on YouTube March 11, 2011
2011	Violet & Daisy	Violet
2012	The Brass Teapot	Payton
2013	Remember Sunday	Molly Branford
2014	Parts per Billion	Sarah
2014	Outliving Emily	Emily (Segment 2)
2015	Jenny's Wedding	Kitty

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000-07	Gilmore Girls	Rory Gilmore	Lead role (153 episodes)
2009	ER	Dr. Julia Wise	Episode: "And in the End..."
2012	Mad Men	Beth Dawes	Recurring role (3 episodes)
2013	Remember Sunday	Molly Branford	Hallmark Hall of Fame telefilm
2014	Us & Them	Stacey	Lead role; show canceled before airing
2015	Motive	Robin	Episode: "Oblivion"
2016	Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life	Rory Gilmore	Lead role (4 episodes)
2017-present	The Handmaid's Tale	Ofglen/Emily	4 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Date
2011	Love, Loss, and What I Wore		January 12 - February 13, 2011
2012	Regrets	Chrissie Myers	March 27 - April 29, 2012
2016	College Republicans	Lee Atwater	April 23, 2016

Awards and other recognitions

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2001	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Leading Young Actress	Gilmore Girls
	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Actress
2002		TV - Choice Drama Actress
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actress
	OFTA Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Family Television Awards	Best Actress
2003	Saturn Award	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Tuck Everlasting
	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical	Gilmore Girls
2004	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Comedy Actress
2005		TV - Choice Comedy Actress
		Choice TV Chemistry
		Choice Movie Love Scene	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
		Movie - Choice Drama Actress
2006		TV - Choice Comedy Actress	Gilmore Girls
		Choice TV Chemistry
	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Television Series
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	Sin City

Other recognitions

• 2002: Voted one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25"
• 2005: Ranked #87 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women
• 2010: Named one of Us Magazine's "25 Most Stylish New Yorkers"