Alexis Bledel Biography ~ Famous Biographies

Alexis Bledel

Alexis Bledel born September 16, 1981 is an American actress. She is 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.

Alexis Bledel

Early life

Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Nanette and Martin Bledel. Her father is from Argentina, and has Danish ancestry. Her mother had been raised in Mexico from a young age. 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 was raised in a Spanish-speaking household, and did not learn English until she began school. She has a younger brother, Eric.

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 NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for one year.

Alexis Bledel

Career

Bledel made her television debut co-starring in 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 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 film debut in Tuck Everlasting, released in 2002, though she had worked as an extra in the 1998 film Rushmore. 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 three friends, linked over the summer by a pair of "magical" jeans.

Alexis Bledel

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.

In 2006 Bledel co-starred in I'm Reed Fish, in the role of 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 appeared in Post Grad, which opened on August 21, 2009, alongside Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, and Carol Burnett.

Bledel appeared opposite Scott Porter in the film The Good Guy, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival April 26, 2009. "The Good Guy" (Porter's role) is a Wall Street businessman whose life falls apart when he helps out a new salesman. Bledel played Beth, Porter's girlfriend. She was also a guest star on the two-hour series finale of ER, playing new intern Dr. Julia Wise.

Bledel appeared in the historical drama The Conspirator directed by Robert Redford. She plays the girlfriend 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 was released in the United States on 15 April 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.

Bledel performed in a theatre production by the Manhattan Theatre Club called Regrets, staged at the New York City Center.